I tried to watch this film through a straight white man's lens, but I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it...
An internationally co-produced flick, "Burnt Money" tells a story of a macho homosexual gangster couple under the veneer of partners in crime, dubbed "The Twins," in Argentina. While their relationship witnessed a decline, they were hired for a robbery, along with another young thug. They, however, made a mistake during the mission, which led from one fiasco to another and finally a tragic ending.
This film is indeed queer, both figuratively and literally. The protagonist did love his boyfriend, but had to cheat on him because he had been coldly shunned by him due to the boyfriend's mental condition and religious beliefs. On his way, he even satisfied his needs with a woman. There's actually no justification for infidelity, but his actions were understandable. We are born with desires. Caging them proves nothing in a relationship on the verge of breaking up. The man may have his way with other people, but throughout the movie, his love for the mentally unstable lover remains intact. After all, love and sex are different concepts.
What marred me was the straight sex scenes. It was certainly a film with gay main characters, but other than some homoeroticism and chaste kisses, there was nothing more between the leads. I know I may sound like a teenage girl going crazy for some BL stuff, but this level of straightbaiting is somewhat ridiculous and unacceptable. Remember that loving, hetero-friendly poster of "Brokeback Mountain"? Yuck.
What's funny is that the main character said he "turned gay while in prison," and in another scene, he lied that his homosexuality was just a "phase" to the hooker who previously pointed out that he loved men. It then became clear that he just took advantage of her for his and other accomplices' sake. Some might say he did it both ways, but his sexuality was of no importance as the story went on.
Knowing the setting of the story, it didn't end well, well, as it should. They were bad people after all, and considering their intimacy, the writer(s) would never let them live (though this film was loosely based on a real event that happened during the 60's.)
I do love me some ill-intended queer characters. We saw bad gays in such films as "Rebecca" (1940), "Swoon" (1992), "Our Paradise" (2011), just to name a few. These characters were all crookedly unabashed and uncompromising with their wrongdoings. Sometimes I think we need more of these than just sympathetic or happy-go-lucky queer stories. Cinema is for entertainment, isn't it? But are we romanticizing bad people through cinema? I don't know; it is up for another debate though, yet it's interesting to me at least.
I remember watching a gay kiss compilation on YouTube featuring a scene of this film, in which the protagonist were tending to his lover's wounds. The cut was homoerotically charged yet tender, and I'm a sucker for it. When I saw the trailer I flinched a little bit to be honest because of, erm, the straight sex. Either way, I was equally thrilled for the whole story, so it was bookmarked.
7/10.
An internationally co-produced flick, "Burnt Money" tells a story of a macho homosexual gangster couple under the veneer of partners in crime, dubbed "The Twins," in Argentina. While their relationship witnessed a decline, they were hired for a robbery, along with another young thug. They, however, made a mistake during the mission, which led from one fiasco to another and finally a tragic ending.
This film is indeed queer, both figuratively and literally. The protagonist did love his boyfriend, but had to cheat on him because he had been coldly shunned by him due to the boyfriend's mental condition and religious beliefs. On his way, he even satisfied his needs with a woman. There's actually no justification for infidelity, but his actions were understandable. We are born with desires. Caging them proves nothing in a relationship on the verge of breaking up. The man may have his way with other people, but throughout the movie, his love for the mentally unstable lover remains intact. After all, love and sex are different concepts.
What marred me was the straight sex scenes. It was certainly a film with gay main characters, but other than some homoeroticism and chaste kisses, there was nothing more between the leads. I know I may sound like a teenage girl going crazy for some BL stuff, but this level of straightbaiting is somewhat ridiculous and unacceptable. Remember that loving, hetero-friendly poster of "Brokeback Mountain"? Yuck.
What's funny is that the main character said he "turned gay while in prison," and in another scene, he lied that his homosexuality was just a "phase" to the hooker who previously pointed out that he loved men. It then became clear that he just took advantage of her for his and other accomplices' sake. Some might say he did it both ways, but his sexuality was of no importance as the story went on.
Knowing the setting of the story, it didn't end well, well, as it should. They were bad people after all, and considering their intimacy, the writer(s) would never let them live (though this film was loosely based on a real event that happened during the 60's.)
I do love me some ill-intended queer characters. We saw bad gays in such films as "Rebecca" (1940), "Swoon" (1992), "Our Paradise" (2011), just to name a few. These characters were all crookedly unabashed and uncompromising with their wrongdoings. Sometimes I think we need more of these than just sympathetic or happy-go-lucky queer stories. Cinema is for entertainment, isn't it? But are we romanticizing bad people through cinema? I don't know; it is up for another debate though, yet it's interesting to me at least.
I remember watching a gay kiss compilation on YouTube featuring a scene of this film, in which the protagonist were tending to his lover's wounds. The cut was homoerotically charged yet tender, and I'm a sucker for it. When I saw the trailer I flinched a little bit to be honest because of, erm, the straight sex. Either way, I was equally thrilled for the whole story, so it was bookmarked.
7/10.