Customer Reviews

Don't Tell Anyone

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

People like myself, who have spent their lives in fairly open and liberal environments, might have trouble with the ultimate statement of this film. It seems to be saying: if you can't beat them, join them.

We observe in this film a young Peruvian's, Joaquin, struggle through his youth and adolescence with the knowledge that he is gay in a society that is both too macho and Catholic to tolerate alternative lifestyles - not to mention his family, which represents this society in microcosm. (Possibly his father's Hitler moustache is a tick over-the-top!)

As a college freshman, he makes a desperate attempt with a nice, but highly naïve, girl to be "normal". He explains his problem to her, and she believes in her naiveté that she can cure him. Joaquin falls, however, madly in love and has an affair with Gonzalo, the fiancé of his girlfriend's best friend. Gonzalo is shock when Joaquin breaks off with his girlfriend out of love for him. Gonzalo explains that leading an openly gay life in Peru is not a viable option for him; he suggests that Joaquin come to his senses - meaning he should get back with his girlfriend, marry her even (as he intends to do with his), so they can go back to having their affair on the side without problems.

Botching it up with Gonzalo by telling his fiancé of their affair, he quits school and goes on a drug and alcohol binge with his queer-bashing schoolmate, Alfonzo. Well, wonders never cease - Alfonzo has the hots for him and they sleep together. When asked why he beats up on gays in the park, he explains because they're queers, not like them - respectable people, who will marry, have kids and screw with men on the side.

Alfonzo seems to have OD'ed on their wild drug binge, and Joaquin, terrified, runs off to America, hoping to leave this whole mess behind him and finally be able to find some happiness in life. He ends up dog-sitting in an attempt to make enough money to stay off the street as a hustler. In the end, he hates his life in Miami and returns to both his country and his girlfriend (who's still naïve enough to believe she can change him).

He meets up first with Alfonzo (no, he didn't die), who is now married with a kid on the way (we can sense, however, what he's doing on the side) and with Gonzalo, who - despite the fact that he did not marry - claims to have not changed his opinion. In the end, it's clear that Joaquin will also marry, but have his "desert" on the side.

At first, I was somewhat shocked by this, but then again, I've never had to live under such oppression. I'm assuming that many in North America and most European countries will have trouble identifying with this film, even find its characters somewhat despicable. It almost seems to be a glory hymn to bi-sexuality. On second thought, I felt like I should cut it some slack, though.

Regardless of what you ultimately think about the film's message, it is well written, directed and acted...

This is a stunning film from Perú about being different in a stifling, conservative society where appearances are everything and honesty is not an option. Caught between an overbearing, racist father (racial tolerance still has a long ways to go in these parts) and an obviously repressed, pious mother, a well to do young man must come to grips with his real self encountering hypocrisy both in the straight and gay world. Unfolding with a gift for storytelling and a dash of wit, this film is a candidate as permanent fixture in the gay or human rights wing of any dvd collection. The transfer is tack-sharp and the colors vivid; the sound is excellent. Some might quibble that such a hadsome, personable and bilingual young man might connect with the gay community in South Beach, where he goes to live for a spell, managing to get work at a men's clothing boutique, or disco, or whatever, instead of being reduced to walking dogs for rich folks and hustling on the side, but then the filmmaker would have had to scuttle his deliciously sardonic (and sad) final wedding shot that ends the film. Don't hesitate, get this one!

"Don't tell Anyone," or "No Se Lo Digas a Nadie," is great, scrappy little Peruvian movie that was a big hit last year at the Latino Film Festival in Chicago. It don't think it was ever widely released here in the states but it's a movie that's definitely worth checking out.

It's a coming-of-age story about a young man who is struggling with his sexual identity amidsts the often glitzy and decadent club scene of Lima, Peru.

What really makes this movie special and sets it apart from most American "gay" movies is the fact that it is utterly honest, it never tries to oversimplify this man's relationships. Maybe what's really refreshing is that it's wise enough to know that the truth about human sexuality does not lie in extremes, that someone should be "gay" or "straight."

It's a gay movie that is subversive for not dogmatically celebrating the gay lifestyle as the end all and be all of homosexuality.

I'm not going to write a complete review of this DVD, the previous reviews already give a lot of information. Joaquin, the main character of this movie, is bisexual but with a preference for men. Then why is it that his first heterosexual encounter with a woman is shown quite explicitely, and his first homosexual encounter with a man is hardly shown at all? And this happens more often in this movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for a gay porn movie. However when the main character of a movie is predominantly gay, then it is a bit silly if his gay encounters are hardly shown at all, and his heterosexual encounters are shown lengthy and explicitely. The love scenes are important for the movie, but then homosexual encounters and heterosexual encounters should have been shown with equal explicity. The movie now feels rather unbalanced in this respect, and makes it much more difficult to understand the feelings of Joaquin.

DON'T TELL ANYONE
[No se lo Digas a Nadie]

(Peru/Spain - 1998)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Digital

An unhappy young Peruvian man (Santiago Magill) clashes with his affluent, god-fearing parents as he struggles to come to terms with his attraction to other men in a country steeped in hypocrisy and prejudice.

An understanding of the macho culture which underpins Peruvian society is a prerequisite for viewers of Francisco J. Lombardi's DON'T TELL ANYONE, an apparently sanitized version of the bestselling book by chat show host Jaime Bayly. Hot young TV star Santiago Magill (The Most Beautiful Man In The World - official!) plays the central character as a deeply confused individual who wants to conform but is unable to deny his true sexuality, despite the attentions of a sympathetic girlfriend (Lucia Jimenez) who believes she can make him 'normal' again. Inevitably, Magill goes off the rails and forfeits his education before descending into coke-fuelled abandon and fleeing to Miami. Unable to escape his past, he's forced to compromise the very essence of his humanity...

Lombardi's cheerless film shakes an angry fist at the influence of religious doctrine in Peru (revealed here as a sham) and the racism suffered by the country's native Indian population, an anger shared by the movie's principal character, who rails against the very same bigotry and oppression which stifles his freedom at every turn. His slide into rebellion makes for uncomfortable viewing (Magill gives a powerhouse performance as the delicate, pretty-boy waif who gravitates toward anarchy and emerges a strong - though embittered - survivor), but it's also faintly predictable, given the terrible circumstances under which he is forced to exist.

Magill is pleasingly nude in a number of scenes, though gay viewers may be alarmed by the emphasis placed on his relationship with Jimenez, who thinks he's merely suffering a 'trauma' and can be cured by having sex with a woman (it's no surprise to learn that director Lombardi is straight), while his relationships with men are depicted as fragile and fleeting, primarily because his male partners are under the same societal pressures as himself. Unable to indulge his true sexuality, Magill's character seems doomed to a life of unhappiness and deceit, an approach which distinguishes the film from its feel-good American counterparts. Technical credits are polished, and the cast is exemplary, but it's hard to enjoy this bleak little movie, and even harder to dismiss it.

For much of the 1990's, there have been numerous attempts by Hollywood and MTV to capture the thoughts and feelings felt by a gay man without much avail. "Don't Tell Anyone" succeeded. As I skeptically watched the film, it not only made me feel "normal", but it also defined some of the comon trials and tribulations that the average homosexual male must overcome in the path called life. Where many movies have failed before, "Don't Tell Anyone" has succeeded. I strongly recommend the film and I hope the next person enjoys the feeling as I did.

Like the Australian film HEAD ON, this is about a young man at odds with his family and the male tradition of machismo. The young men of both films have a somewhat girlfriend who is the woman they will likely marry, and also an abusive father, one who lives by a very strict code of what a man is and what he should be doing. The young man in this film decides to break loose from the shackles of tradition and his family by declaring his homosexuality and living openly as a gay man. The impetus for doing so is a love affair with another man who is in a likewise predicament of girlfriend followed by marriage to be followed by doing what you really want, but on the side. The situations have an in-bred irony because of the sense of "whatever goes around, comes around." For those shy of drug use, there is regular ingestions of cocaine and marijuana. For those shy of nudity, there is both male and female, though no explicit sex scenes. Overall, considering what both films have in common, a young man's coming of age and coming out, heavy drug use as well as nudity, the film HEAD ON is sexier though hard-edged fun. DON'T TELL ANYONE is lighter fare, easier on the sensibilities. The only extras on the DVD are a gallery (still photos) and an assortment of trailers, though the only trailer for this film included is the Spanish one, not the one designed for non-Spanish speaking audiences which can be located on other DVDs.

First I read the book. Then I saw the movie. I was very pleased by the result of the movie. It shows how being gay in Latin American countries really is. It shows how society behaves when dealing with homosexuality issues. Being gay and from Mexico I felt really identified by this movie. I really liked it for being real. I didn't give it 5 stars, because I bought the DVD edition, and they don't take advantage of this technology, they don't add 'interviews' or 'comentaries of the director, produces or actors'. But the movie, it's very honest and real, and Santiago Magill -the main character- is really cute ;-) Ah! and the movie shows nudity.

Aunque casi llegando a la pornografía, las actuaciones de Santiago Magill y Christian Meier son magnificas y bastante creibles.
La adaptacion propiamente de la novela de Jaime Bayly es un poco exagerada, pero creo que conserva la esencia de la narración.
Esta película muestra como la intolerencia y la ignorancia puede influir en una vida desordenada de homosexualidad, drogas y perversion.
Al final no deja ninguna leccion clara, pero en resumen es una pelicula muy entretenida.

"Don't Tell Anyone," directed by Francisco J. Lombardi, tells the story of Joaquin (played by Santiago Magill), a young Peruvian man who is struggling with feelings of attraction towards other males. He is torn between the macho ethics of his racist, womanizing father and the bleeding-heart religiosity of his mother. But a series of relationships and experiences he has while attending college profoundly impact his life.

"Don't Tell" is an absolutely gripping and fascinating film. The film is mainly in Spanish with English subtitles. Woven into Joaquin's story are many issues: ethnic difference, class stratification, homophobia, parent-child relationships, etc. Particularly interesting is the film's treatment of recreational drug use--there are many shocking scenes of drug use (or abuse) throughout the film, and ultimately if there is a "message" about drug use that message is quite ambiguous.

Magill is excellent in the lead role. His character really dominates the film, and Magill is by turns playful, passionate, tortured, explosive, and serene. The supporting cast is also quite impressive; Lucia Jiminez is particularly appealing as a female classmate who takes a liking to Joaquin.

In the end, the filmmakers have perhaps bitten off more social issues than they can fully address, but overall the film has an effective symmetry and moves to an open-ended but satisfying conclusion. Gritty, sexy, and sweaty, "Don't Tell" is an enjoyable and thought-provoking film.