Movie Review: ROMEOS

Movie Title: Romeos
Director: Sabine Bernardi
Actor(s): Rick Okon, Liv Lisa Fries, Maximilan Befort
Studio: Strand Releasing
Language: English/German (with English subtitles where needed)
Rated: N/A (strong nudity, mature audience)
Genre: Foreign, Gay & Lesbian, Drama, Romance
Theme: Pre-op Transgender
Run Time: 94 mins
DVD Release Date: 17 January 2012
Buy: amazon.com
My Rating:


Synopsis: A twist on trans stories – a 19-year-old pre-op FTM falls for an openly gay man in Romeos , a tautly told and sexily romantic drama. Lukas is a handsome young man but was born a woman, is on hormone replacement therapy, and still has breasts that he keeps bound and hidden. His new male life is complicated when he is frustratingly assigned to a female dorm while doing community service. Stressed by the unfamiliar surroundings and insecure with his new body, Lukas is aided his lesbian friend, Ine, who keeps his secret when he reenters the world as a man. Lured by Ine and his new friends, Lukas ventures into Cologne’s gay nightlife where he meets Fabio, a cocky, dark haired gay hunk who beds whom he pleases. The two opposites strike up a friendship, but when Fabio begins to make romantic moves, Lukas is forced into making a decision: end contact or tell him and face the consequences. Lukas’s courage to live his life as he desires makes this a great film for trans audiences but it is also is a revelatory one for gay men. It is in essence a sexy, entertaining, if unconventional, story of two young men who fall in love. (English and German with English subtitles)

**The Following Review May Contain SPOILERS**

My Review: Wow. Romeos moved me in so many ways that I feel...speechless. It's been a long time since I watched something that made the tiny hairs on my arms stand on edge. Moved to tears not only because of the performances (although they were extremely good) but because...finally someone has come along and made a movie so brutally honest, without apologies, on a topic that so many people are ignorant about. And we all know what happens when people are ignorant. Ignorance leads to fear and fear leads to blind hatred. That ignorance, fear, and hatred is what kills our youth, whether its from suicide or bashing.

Romeos was one of the movies I actually paid to see at last years 2011 Philadelphia Q-Fest. And guess what? When my mom and I got to the theater and were standing in line, we found out that something was wrong with the film equipment, therefore, we could either get a refund or come back tomorrow. Well, I had work the next day and I live about a good 40 mins from Philadelphia, so I ended up taking the refund. Since then, I have been patiently awaiting the movie's release on dvd and worried that I would be disappointed after waiting so long. Normally, that's what happens, but I was tickled pink that Romeos far exceeded my expectations.

As the synopsis states above, the movie is about a 20 something pre-op transgender FTM (female to male) named Lukas. He gets accepted into some sort of Nursing program and must live in a dorm while completing the course work. Even though Lukas has been taking hormone treatments that have changed his voice, hair growth, and general appearance, he is technically still a female. Because of this, he is forced to stay in the female dorms. The head of housing keeps Lukas's secret, telling the girls that there is no room left in the men's dorms, therefore, Lukas would be staying with them until further notice. Lukas is upset at his housing situation, but perks up when he sees Ine, a friend that knew him when he was known as "Miri" and learns she will be staying at the dorm as well.

As Lukas gets settled in, the first part of the film reveals his daily routine as a transgendered person: hormone injections, lifting weights, measuring different areas of his body, etc. He also keeps a live journal online where he connects with other transgendered people in all stages of their transition. When Ine invites him out with her to a party, you really get to see how awkward it is for Lukas. Even though the hormone treatments have done wonders with his outward appearance-- facial hair, muscles, deep voice etc., the one thing they haven't helped him get rid of are his breasts. Lukas wears some sort of chest binding vest, but it still does not keep his bosom completely flat. This is why he layers his clothes, crosses his arms over his chest, never getting too close to anyone--another words, Lukas is always in a state of anxiety or paranoia, afraid that someone will notice.

The hunky, charismatic Fabio is the one person Lukas wants to notice him, but not for his upper appendages. Fabio is the epitome of a gay alpha male, appearing to be confident in mind and body. He attracts the attention of both males and females and in some scenes in the movie, you wonder if he is bi or if he dates women to make Lukas jealous (you will see what I mean if you watch the film). Lukas is fascinated by Fabio; a part of it could be first love, a crush, but I got the sense that Lukas views Fabio as the perfect male specimen. He is everything that Lukas wants to be-- perfect body and the confidence to go with it.

But all is not as it seems. The more time Lukas spends with Fabio, the more he tries to convince himself that it's his manly attributes that attracts him. But one of the hardest lessons Lukas must learn is how can he expect someone to love and see the real him if he can't even tolerate his own self? And although Fabio may be good at making people believe he is confident and an out and proud gay man, in reality he is closeted in many ways (again, I don't want to give too much away).

There are so many interesting topics that are addressed in this movie, but there were 2 that really fascinated me. One is during a scene where Lukas reluctantly goes with Ine to the beach because he finds out that Fabio is going. While everyone is stripped down to their swimming shorts or bikinis, you feel Lukas's awkwardness as he sits fully clothed with his layered shirts. As he watches Fabio and some of the guys swimming, Ine, his best friend, takes her bikini top off (remember, nude beaches are common in some other countries). Lukas points to Ine's breasts and starts explaining the breast removal process that he will eventually go through and Ine pushes his hand away and tells him to stop.
She asks, "If you like boys, why don't you just stay a woman?"
Lukas responds, "One has nothing to do with the other."
Lukas is completely right. But Ine's question is one that confuses so many people in the world. There is a BIG difference between someone's gender and someone's sexuality but oftentimes they are thought to be one and the same. Gender is whether you are a male, female, or transgender (born with parts you don't identify with and wish to change such as in Lukas's case). Sexuality is your sexual preference, what you are attracted to, such as being straight, gay, bi-sexual, etc. So even though Lukas was born female, he identifies himself as male. He is in the process of physically becoming a male. Since he is attracted to men, that would make him gay. His best friend is being hypocritical. Ine openly admits she is a lesbian. So for her to tell Lukas that he might as well stay female if he likes guys sort of makes no sense. I could see that being more of a comment that someone homophobic would say. Lukas could have turned her words back on her and say, "since you like women, why don't you grow a penis?"

This leads me to the last point I want to make that the movie addresses. Once Lukas's secret is revealed (I won't say how and why), prejudice starts to rear its ugly head. Fabio turns into one of his greatest tormentors, calling him a "tranny", flaunting other men and women around him as if to say he would date anyone other then him. Straight people are not the only ones that can be ignorant and prejudice towards transgendered people. The homosexual community can be a transgendered person's greatest nightmare. Why? Because ignorance breeds fear, and fear breeds hate. Fabio really does care for Lukas. What holds him back is his lack of knowledge about transgendered issues and the pressure of what others would think of him liking someone like Lukas. There is no denying Fabio's curiosity and once he lets go of worrying about what others may or may not think about him and Lukas, he is then more willing to let go of his prejudices and learn more. And let me be clear, Fabio is not as confident as Lukas thought he was. There are many reasons why, but that is for you to find out!

If you think that is all that's covered in Romeos, you are in for a surprise. For a 94 minute movie, it touches on so many more issues, themes, etc. But I don't want to give everything away. It sounds like I did, but I'm telling you, I really didn't scratch the surface. So if you are up for a good drama, some romance, a little comedy, mixed in with real, true life issues that transgendered people go through in today's society, then you really are in for a treat!


Other Thoughts: I just wanted to quickly mention that the acting was top notch, especially Rick Okon who played Lukas. It may sound easy to play a female transitioning to become a male since Rick is already a male, but it isn't.

Oh, and may I also add that the make-up/special effects were AMAZING?? This movie does get graphic and there are some scenes where you see Lukas with his shirt off, so...yeah, that means you are seeing...got the picture?? It looked SO real. I wonder if they got a real transgendered person to model for those scenes? If you like movies or stories like this, then I would like to recommend a movie called Different For Girls, a 1996 film way ahead of its time. For more info about that movie, go HERE.

Movie Review: Strangers

Movie Title: Strangers
Director: Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv
Actor(s): Lubna Azabal, Liron Levo
Language: Arabic, English, French, Hebrew
Subtitles: English
Rated: Not Rated (nudity, sexual situations)
Genre: Foreign
Run Time: 85 mins
DVD Release Date: 18 October 2011
Buy: amazon.com, half.com, ebay.com
My Rating:


Synopsis:
A chance encounter in Berlin sparks an improbable, passionate affair between an Israeli man and a Palestinian woman. Handsome Eyal (Liron Levo) and Rana serendipitously meet when their backpacks get swapped on the subway during the 2006 World Cup finals. Over six days, they get swept away by romantic desire, soccer mania and competing political loyalties. When Rana suddenly return to Paris, Eyal must make some bold choices that could alter their lives forever.

**The following review may contain SPOILERS**

My Review: Strangers was a movie I had been looking forward to seeing for a long time. I heard about the film about a year ago and was annoyed that it had only been released on dvd overseas. Normally this does not stop me from viewing a film-- I have my ways of changing the region coding on foreign discs. However, the movie was going for over $30 dollars at the time and sorry, but I refuse to pay that much. My patience served me well because I found out it was going to be released in the US in October.

This is going to sound weird but Strangers was in one hand interesting and in the other disappointing. It started out as I expected. We follow Eyal first as he arrives in Germany and travels to his ex-girlfriend's house whom he made a pact with years ago. They promised each other they would go to the World Cup together no matter what, even if they broke up. Well keeping his end of the promise, he shows up at her house only for her not to answer his phone calls or answer the door. As he searches for a place to sleep for the night, he meets Rana on the subway. They accidentally switch bags which later results in them meeting back up. This leads to them spending time together, going to the World Cup together, and sharing a place to sleep for the remainder of their stay. Basically they do a lot of talking, drinking, love making, and cigarette smoking (which I am fine with up until later).

Things start getting interesting once Rana receives a mysterious phone call and tells Eyal she has to go back to Paris. As she is about to board the plane, she tells him to not call her, basically to forget about their little affair. I figured maybe she had a husband waiting back at home, or maybe family that would completely freak out at the thought of her being with an Israeli man. Of course Eyal is a total romantic (as shown in the beginning when he keeps his promise to his ex) and decides to fly to Paris to surprise Rana with a visit.

Once in Paris, Eyal gets settled in at a hotel and starts searching for Rana. After getting some info from a cafe that she frequents, he surprises her on the subway. Of course, she tells him he shouldn't have come. He gives her a card from the hotel he is staying at just in case she wants to talk to him.

The twist is *MAJOR SPOILER ALERT* Rana has a little boy that has serious asthmatic health issues to the point where he must use a machine. One night she wakes up to him having trouble breathing and takes him to the hospital. While filling out paperwork, it is revealed that Rana is staying in Paris illegally and the shitty nurse calls immigration. She has no family in Paris, so the only person she can call to watch over her son while she is locked up is Eyal.

Okay so up until this point I was hooked. Did I think the beginning was a little slow and boring? Yes. But once she left Berlin to go back to Paris and Eyal follows her, things really started to heat up. Being able to see that she is a single mom, struggling to make ends meet and to provide the best kind of care to her little boy who is sick, definitely touched a chord in my heart. And obviously I was curious to see Eyal's reaction to not only finding out that Rana has a child, but that he literally has to take care of him until further notice.

Here is where things go down hill and unrealistic for me. The first thing that confused the hell out of me is when Rana gets released. The people from immigration gave her such a hard time and from what is said in the movie, they had proof that her papers had been expired for awhile. How and why was she released??? It is never mentioned. I have watched movies before dealing with immigration and they never just release you 24 hours later. I guess maybe if there had been some sort of explanation I would have been okay. But what was the point of adding that plot device if they weren't going to further explore it?

The second problem I had with this movie was actually Rana's character. I think by the end of the film I was sort of pissed off at her, for lack of a better word. Here is why. Once I found out she not only had a child, but one that obviously is very sick and frequently, I started questioning her motherhood skills. She takes off for Berlin at the beginning of the movie and it is never explained why. I mean, did she just decide she wanted a vacation? If so, I think she took one hell of a risk to fly to Berlin and leave her kid with a neighbor/friend, especially being in Paris illegally. I guess once I put that all together, it started bothering me. What mother would just up and leave the country for a few days of booze and sex? Yes, yes, I know she didn't PLAN on meeting and sleeping with Eyal, but come on!

Okay so here is the biggest thing that annoyed the hell out of me about Rana. Her son is an asthmatic. I mean a serious asthmatic that is on medication and sometimes needs a breathing machine. Why in the hell would she be smoking cigarettes around her kid??? Once she gets out of immigration and she invites Eyal back to her place, all they do is smoke cigarettes in that little tiny apartment while her son is sleeping! WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!! It just makes no sense! He JUST got out of the hospital from a SERIOUS asthma attack and she is sitting there smoking away! Okay, I need to calm down! But seriously??? The other thing that further annoyed me was later when you see her and Eyal at a club, drinking and getting drunk. Where is the kid??? When they get back to the apartment you see him laying on the bed I think. What, did they just leave him there while they went out partying?

Yup, that is where I pretty much gave up on the movie. I was appalled at her unmotherly, teenage behavior. It kind of spoiled the ending for me which actually wasn't that bad. I guess I just stopped feeling sympathetic for her. As for Eyal...I think he had a little more common sense but hey, I had to fault him too because he was smoking right up in there with her and went out partying with her instead of staying home with the kid. Overall, Strangers wasn't a bad movie, but the writer(s) of the film should have thought things through a little better if they wanted people to feel more sympathetic towards the main characters.

~Mia~

Book Review: Eva Underground

Title: Eva Underground

Author: Dandi Daley Mackall
ISBN: 978-0152054625
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Theme: Historical Fiction
Binding: Hardcover
Length: 256 pgs
Published: 2006
Buy: amazon.com, bn.com
My Rating:


Synopsis: In 1978, a high school senior is forced by her widowed father to move from their comfortable Chicago suburb to help with an underground education movement in communist Poland.

**The following review may contain SPOILERS**

My Review: I know the last few posts have been about movies so it's time for me to change things up a bit and review a book that I recently finished reading. Eva Underground is a young adult novel that is quite different from the norm. Or at least in my reality it is. I know the book was published back in 2006 but it seems in recent years that most YA novels are focused on vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and fairies (you get the point). While I love a good paranormal/supernatural story like the next person, I must admit that it's beginning to get hard to weed out the diamonds among all the coal (like that analogy? hehe). Sometimes I just need a break from the monotony. Eva Underground not only provided that but also took me back to the days when all I did was read historical romance and fiction.

The book takes place in communist Poland, 8 years after the Gdansk riots of 1970 (which you find out was the year that Tomek's older brother was tragically killed). Americans Eva and her father, a college professor, are first introduced at a Czech border crossing. While they sit with tension in the unheated car, waiting for the line to move, we get small glimpses of Eva's life back in Chicago and the events that led to her current life change. Right off the bat we know that being uprooted from everything she knows is not her choice, but her father's. She yearns to be back in Chicago with her best friend and boyfriend and close to where her mother is buried (not a big spoiler since you find that out within the first few pages of the book.) Her father, Professor Lott, has an agenda-- to meet up with Father B. (who is in charge of this underground movement) and teach/train oppressed yet eager Polish students so that one day they can make a stand against a government that wants to keep its people uneducated and ignorant. Once they finally do cross the border (not without difficulty) they meet Tomek, a 19 year old Polish teen who reluctantly takes on the job of escort and translator for the American professor. Just like Eva, he does not really want to get involved with the underground movement but does because of the money he could earn so that he can buy books and go to school. When Tomek and Eva first meet, they obviously don't like each other. Tomek thinks Eva is spoiled and rich since her father is a college professor and Eva resents Tomek because, well, he represents everything that is foreign to her.

The first thing I liked about Eva Underground is the third person narrative that switches perspectives between 17 year old Eva and 19 year old Polish Tomek. Up until the Twilight series, I was never a big fan of first person narration, probably because I had my brain trained to reading romance novels, mythology, historical and fantasy epics,-- all of which are mostly written in third person. Okay, and I will admit that I tend to be nosy-- I like to know what's going on in other character's heads and their views throughout a story. Once I started getting into YA literature, I noticed a trend of first person narration and I learned to actually enjoy it. (I'm always up for a challenge and looking for new ways to expand my mind.)

Anyway, the shift back to third person narrative in Eva Underground was a nice change of pace for me. The author, Mackall, did a great job with changing perspectives between the two lead characters as well as giving us as the reader good introductory descriptions into Eva and Tomek's livestyles and backgrounds. By the third chapter I felt emotionally invested in both of their causes and couldn't wait to see how things progressed.

Like I was saying before, I was exposed early to historical romance and fiction novels but will admit that this is the first story I have read about communist Poland in the 70's. The author does a great job at giving just enough details and situations to express the severe opression that these people were experiencing. You don't have to be an expert on the time period or place to get the general mood of the story.

There is one part in particular that I loved in Eva Underground that reminded me of one of my favorite scenes in the movie A Walk in the Clouds (starring Keanu Reeves). In order to get out of doing dish duty (sounds stupid but there are months in Poland where they can't get soap so they kill germs by washing dishes in boiling hot water) Eva convinces Tomek to take her with him to his family's home to help pick plums for the harvest. When they arrive, everyone seems to accept her but Lukasz, Tomek's cousin. They have all gathered to help pick plums from the family orchard before a terribly ice storm hits. With the help of little Stash (Tomek's other cousin) Eva adapts well. She becomes so fast that a competition arises between Eva and Lukasz to see who can get the most plums picked the quickest. This is almost exactly what happens in A Walk in the Clouds only it is Keanu Reeves' character that is the stranger and he must help pick grapes, not plums. Beings that A Walk in the Clouds was released in 1995, I have to wonder if the similarities are purely coincidental or if the author had a little inspiration? Hmm...

Now to the things that bothered me which ultimately is the reason I give this book a 3 out of 5 star rating. The first thing that nagged at my conscience was Eva's father's decision to force his 17 year old daughter to a communist country that is obviously in turmoil. What in the BLEEP was he thinking??? I get that he is still mourning the loss of his wife and living day in and day out in a house full of memories must be like putting salt to a wound. I get that Eva started acting out after her mother's death and perhaps he thought that a change of scenary would do her some good. But to take your daughter out of her last year of high school and drag her to a place where they not only hate their own people but they hate Americans? Don't get me wrong, I am all for helping others. I know sometimes you have to risk your own life for the greater cause. But I just find it either completely negligent or very naive on Professor Lott's part. What solidifies my point even more is the fact that he doesn't even know Polish! I could see if he was fluent in Polish or a similar language, but he actually had to depend on Eva to translate (she can pick of languages quickly) when Tomek was not around.

Another thing that left me with some questions was this supposed hatred between Tomek's father and Josef Krysa, Captain of the militia. The author states a few times in later chapters that Krysa is the "hated enemy" of Tomek's father. I wanted to know why. I had a feeling it was in regards to the death of Tomek's older brother years prior but nothing is really developed. I know not everything in a story has to be spelled out but Captain Krysa obviously has a vendetta against Tomek's family. And when the author stated more then once that both older men are mortal enemies, I had to wonder why or how it started. Mackall kind of leaves you hanging and I found it a little disappointing.

Lastly, I kind of felt that the love story between Eva and Tomek was...underdeveloped. Throughout most of the book you have Eva thinking of her boyfriend back in Chicago and about halfway through the novel she even tries to make a break for it (You'll see what I mean). Tomek, on the other hand, thinks of Eva as being spoiled and selfish. Since he feels this way through most of the book (he thinks it constantly) I was waiting for some big blow up between the two where Tomek finally tells Eva how he feels, but it never comes. Obviously his opinion of her changes, and vice versa, but I guess the whole sudden love thing between the two felt...unreal. Okay maybe unreal is not the best word to describe it, but I think a couple of more chapters to develop their feelings for each other would have satisfied me more.

Eva Underground is a good book if you are reading it for the purpose of educating yourself on this turbulent part of history, whether you are a teenager or adult. I think the author did a great job from a historical perspective as well as giving the reader sufficient description and character backgrounds to reel us in. While the story starts off strong, I think it loses a little steam in the romance department as well as a few underdeveloped story lines such as the bitter feud between Tomek's father and Captain Krysa. Despite my pickiness, I don't regret reading it and would even go so far as to say that if I was teaching history instead of English, I would probably add the book to a mandatory summer reading list.

~~Mia~~