There are many things I like about Spain. The men, natch – coming from blue-eyed Scanda stock this gentleman was never going to prefer blonds; the art; the architecture; did I mention the men?; and last but most definitely not least, its cinema. The Spanish film industry has often been sidelined in the past by dint of being deemed wanting in auteurly seriousness for the liking of the snootier end of the critirati, but that’s missing the essential point. Like Spanish art and architecture, Spanish fashion even, it’s the sense of the absurd, its knowing self-mockery that makes Spanish films not only fun and funny but also unique.
Boystown may not be unique – it borrows heavily from Pedro Almodóvar’s filmic box of tricks – but it certainly has a unique charm. Like Almodóvar’s work, you need to suspend your disbelief at the door because realism ain’t on the agenda here. This is purely screwball fantasy territory where souped-up, surreal versions of ‘reality’ – note the postmodern air quotes – only ever encroaches in huge, hyperventilating, hilarious doses that come at you in relentless luridly loud torrents.
Here’s the set-up. Leo (Carlos Fuentes) and Rey (Pepón Nieto) are a couple whose relationship is hitting a rocky road. Things get even more complicated when Rey’s monster of a mother moves in with them. She’s determined to split them up, convinced that Leo’s not good enough for her precious, adored son. At the same time, a serial killer is knocking off old ladies in an attempt to speed up the gentrification of the area so he can transform it into prime gaybourhood real estate for Madrid’s power pinks. Could Rey’s conniving/obnoxious mother be next on the murderer’s hit list?
Adapted from the comic strip Chuecatown, the Boystown of the title and the real-life gay district of the Spanish capital, the film is suitably cartoony with florid cinematography and even more florid performances. For high-camp melodrama, look no further than the arch-villain of the piece, estate agent Victor, played with murderous moustache-twirling relish by talented all-rounder Pablo Puyol, who captures that fine balance between generating fear and farce. With his angular looks and hard body, he also does a nice line in hot smoulder. Is it wrong to fancy a serial killer? When it’s Fred West, maybe, but here it’s not such a Freudian quagmire.
The standout performances, though, come care of the central relationship between Leo and Rey. There’s a real tenderness between them and a genuine sexual chemistry that jumps off the screen; you believe in their love, in their happy-ever-after despite the monster-in-law’s meddling and needling. Theirs is an ordinary life amidst all the slapsticky goings-on and gives the narrative a bit of heart and soul, meaning it’s not all OTT farcical tics and crazy comedic kookiness.
In his first feature writer/director Juan Flahn has infused proceedings with an urgent paciness that takes the plot and characterisation through all the twists and turns of your typical Spanish telenovela. What does impress for a newbie on dual writing and directing duty is the deftness with which Flahn handles the sharp shifts in tone and tempo; you sense he’s having fun with the material and controlling it confidently as opposed to being overwhelmed or swamped by its fever-pitch frenzy.
A black comedy with a rich warmth, Boystown patchworks a riproaring romp with a realistic, touching love story resulting in a quietly moving cinematic gem.
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Boystown [2008]
Studio: TLA Releasing
Released: 17 November 2008
ASIN: B001HN6PXU
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