Butler's Cinema Scene

For a long time gay cinema had basically one story: the coming-out tale.

But the liberalization of public attitudes about homosexuality (for most people under age 40 it’s simply not an issue) has meant that a “gay movie” now can be many things.

At the center of the Peruvian feature “Undertow” (on DVD May 31) is a same-sex relationship, but you’d be doing the picture a disservice by pigeonholing it as a gay movie.

Writer/director Javier Fuentes-Leon packs this feature with all sorts of good stuff. It’s a very realistic and well-acted look at life in a small fishing village. It’s a story of faith and marriage and parenthood. It also delivers a big dose of magic realism, with a fantastic conceit delivering a big emotional payoff.

Miguel (Cristian Mercado) spends his days toiling on a fishing boat and his nights with his wife Mariela (Tatiana Astengo), who is pregnant with their first child.

Theirs is a such cozy portrait of domesticity that it’s a shock to discover that Miguel is also having a torrid affair with Santiago (Manolo Cardona), an artist and photographer who has been visiting the village for years but still is considered an outsider.

Santiago wants Miguel to admit he’s gay so that they can run off together.

Except that Miguel isn’t ready to cop to any such thing. Yeah, maybe he’s in denial, but there’s genuine tenderness and passion in his relationship with Mariela. And whether he’s gay, straight, bi or something else entirely,  Miguel is totally taken with the idea of fatherhood.

An uneasy sense of suspense and anticipation imbues the film. Miguel fears discovery and refuses to give Santiago the time of day in public. His fellow villagers aren’t exactly violent Neanderthals, but they adhere to a fairly rigid code when it comes to sexual identity. Not a whole lot of room for gray.

And then “Undertow” takes a wondrous, magical turn into fantasy. I’m not going to ruin the experience by spoiling the twist –let’s just say that something eerie and extraordinary happens that allows Miguel for the first time to walk down his town’s main drag holding hands with his male lover.

“Undertow” is a gentle, unforced effort that somehow feels real even when it veers into the supernatural. And it leaves us understanding that it’s foolish to try to put labels on love.