DVD Review – Boys In Brazil
2 min read
Boys in Brazil, directed by Alexandre Carvalho, explores the lives of four gay men that meet at the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade and decide they must come out of the closet, in their own respects, by next year’s parade.
Maurinho (Luis Vaz) is an out and proud diva, except when he goes home to his incredibly religious parent, then he pretends to be a good, straight, Christian boy. Maurinho is not easy to like, in fact, he feels like quite superficial character to begin with. Rodrigo (Maurício Evanns), Maurinho’s best friend, desperately wants to lose his virginity, but to the right person at the right time. He also isn’t out to his parents. Rodrigo is unassuming in nature, and the complete opposite to Maurinho, which lands him with a handsome boyfriend who is maybe a little more experienced than he. Vicente (Marcello Airoldi) is Maurinho’s Uncle; he has a prominent position in his company, and is afraid that if he reveals his sexuality, it could affect his work life. He is a genuinely likeable character that provides the support for Maurinho that his parents can’t give. He finds love with the closeted and incredibly beautiful Roger (André Bankoff), who has a wife and child (and another on the way) waiting at home. Vicente and Roger try to make their relationship work, but Roger quite clearly loves his family and is having issues leaving them. He is faced with the difficult choice of revealing who he truly is or continue to live a lie.
Each of the men in Boys in Brazil faces a difficult situation that reflects many real life occurrences in the lives of gay men. These difficult decisions must be made with the lives of others being affected in the process. But there is an overwhelming need for them to be their true selves. When they make the promise at the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade, none of them know what will happen in the next year, they don’t know what will stand in their way or how it will affect their lives. But they do know they need to stop hiding.
Boys in Brazil is an entertaining film with many strong characters who drive the plot. It’s not exactly groundbreaking in the way they explore a few of the many issues gay men face when coming out, but it does manage to do it in an entertaining way. I enjoyed how the characters grew on you as people throughout the movie, even the most pigheaded of moments only made each person more likeable. Ultimately, Boys in Brazil does what it sets out to do, explore coming out in many different ways, situations and times. But it doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the table either.
