Introduction to Diego Céspedes’s Debut
Diego Céspedes’s striking debut film blends elements of magic realism and melodrama to tell a tender story centered on an LGBTQ+ community confronting fear and superstition in 1980s Chile.
Setting and Premise
This beautiful and raw film by young Chilean director Diego Céspedes is a unique mix of queer western and beguiling fable. It features some magnificent scenes reminiscent of a Latin soap opera, enhanced by magic-realist effects and moments filled with heartbreakingly tender emotion. The narrative unfolds in the early 1980s within a mining town located on a dusty, remote frontier. Here, a dilapidated establishment, reminiscent of a bordello from a spaghetti western, is operated by a small LGBTQ+ community. During the day, they serve food to exhausted, dust-covered miners; at night, the venue transforms into a cabaret where drag performances take place.
Characters and Conflict
The club also serves as a home for an 11-year-old girl named Lidia (played by Tamara Cortes), who was abandoned as a baby on the club’s doorstep, possibly by parents who recognized the care the club provides its own. When Lidia becomes the target of bullying by transphobic local boys, the women of the club unite to fiercely defend her, confronting the gang physically.
Lidia’s adoptive mother is Flamenco (Matías Catalán), a transgender woman who is romantically involved with Yovani (Pedro Muñoz), a miner bearing a striking resemblance to Marlon Brando. Yovani is characterized by an angelic pout coupled with a dangerous intensity in his eyes. Both Flamenco and Yovani suffer from an illness that locals refer to as “the plague.” Yovani, blaming Flamenco for their condition, confronts her armed with a gun.
Symbolism and Historical Context
The story is set in 1982, coinciding with the onset of the AIDS crisis. The plague in the film serves as an allegorical representation of AIDS; it manifests with similar symptoms but is uniquely transmitted through gazing lovingly into another person’s eyes. There is no cure available,
“not even in rich countries”. The miners respond by covering their eyes and making the sign of the cross whenever the women of the club pass by in this barren, austere landscape. The cinematography by Angello Faccini captures this desolate environment with haunting beauty.
Artistic Tone and Themes
The film’s distinctiveness arises from its slightly feverish tone and dream-like narrative logic. At times, the contribution of magic realism to the story’s impact is ambiguous, and the screenplay’s exploration of themes related to gender and the gaze appears somewhat underdeveloped. Nevertheless, this sense of unreality ultimately facilitates the characters’ ability to find love amidst a harsh and seemingly hopeless environment. The film is both touching and moving.
