Gay Celluloid on Doors Cut Down

›› Doors Cut Down - En malas compañías ‹‹

a short film by Antonio Hens.

2000 | 18 mins | Spain.

a young man's insatiable desire for restroom sex.

Dave says:

Written and directed by Antonio Hens, this engaging Spanish short was inspired by the directors' real life encounter with a young man, whose sexual appetite was seemingly insatiable.

For here cue the life and times of sixteen-year-old schoolboy Guillermo (Israel Rodríguez) ever in search of some after hours tuition, courtesy of the toilets at his local shopping mall. Not that this boy needs any lessons in the art of seduction, casting his puppy dog eyes in the direction of the Ernestos, Jaimes and Alfonsos of the world, let alone at his English tutor (Juan Carlos Rubio) when he finds himself grounded on account of failing grades. Only when his father catches his son learning more than just vocabulary, the question is not so much whether Guillermo has learned his lesson, but rather if he's still up for a service from Pablo Puyol as the hot mechanic of the piece.

Wonderfully played tongue in cheek style thanks to a subtle voiceover that aptly conveys the thoughts of the boy himself, here we find Hens counter Guillermos' prowess as a sexual predator with a narrative that find his parents unable to come to terms with their son's rampant homosexuality, only to discover the open mind of a clinical psychotherapist ever keen to fly the rainbow coloured flag.

Yet if the message here is one of sexual acceptance, then it's overshadowed by the stereotypical portrayal of promiscuity; that of men who whether in a relationship or not, just cannot cease their desire for restroom sex, even when the doors in question have been cut down. Surprisingly perhaps, given the nature of the narrative, Hens opts to depict Guillermo's numerous sexual encounters in a physical, rather than sexually explicit way, making for a sensuous, often comical work that's guaranteed to please. Frankly, need more be said?

›› revised: Thursday, 5th August, 2021.

Gay Visibility - overt.
Nudity - from the waist up.
Overall - file under ... 3+ stars.

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