Film: Leo's Room
Release date: 17th May 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 95 mins
Director: Enrique Buchichio
Starring: Martín Rodríguez, Cecilia Cósero, Gerardo Begérez, Arturo Goetz
Genre: Drama
Studio: TLA
Format: DVD
Country: Uruguay
Following a journey through his battles with sexual identity, Leo's Room takes on the difficult task of dealing with the most important crossroads in a young man’s life.
Our leading man, Leo, is finding himself moving from girl to girl - with one troubled relationship after another. He resorts to meeting men off the internet in order to try and explore his sexuality. When his girlfriend recommends that he goes to see a therapist, he starts opening up to the roots of his problems.
Whilst out shopping he meets Caro, an old school flame with a troubled past, who quickly takes to Leo as someone she can rely on. Meanwhile, a relationship with a man Leo met off the internet grows more serious, and with the inevitable developments in Leo and Caro's friendship, the understanding of his own sexual identity gets more and more blurred and confused…
Leo's Room definitely deserves some respect, taking on the subject of sexual identity in such a naturalistic and low-budget way. Using nothing but natural light and except for some music, nearly completely diegetic sound, it moves through the story despite its problems in a watchable and well structured way.
As a whole, Leo's Room doesn't quite come together, mainly because of the lack of character structure and growth. At no point during the film did I find myself truly relating to the characters. The first act finds Leo coming across as nothing more than a ‘sexuality’, rather than the multi-faceted character that you really want him to be. As we follow him through his decisions, you do get brief insights into his past and family relationships, but they feel rather tacked on - more of an afterthought than a true construction of character. It doesn't stop with Leo though; all the characters involved do feel fairly one dimensional, and that is where the problem truly lies.
There are moments in the script that are quite charming and well written, but then there are other areas that sway towards over-thought melodrama. Leo's encounters with his therapist are nicely constructed and have a sense of poetry, which such a heavy subject matter needs. It is a shame that these are such brief flashes though, for most of the speech does feel quite natural, yet fails to really draw in – cringe worthy, melodramatic speeches do far more damage than the rest of the film can make up for.
The acting at times feels shaky, and never quite tips over to compelling. Caro is meant to be a much troubled and deeply confused character, who should really give us as an audience a desire to reach out to. Yet when the source of all her troubles are revealed, it should be a moment of great revelation playing on our sympathies, making the character's future upsets and past actions all the more relatable and emotional, but it fails to do this. The problem is that the only way her depression is demonstrated is by seeing her take tablets and lying in bed during daylight - there is nothing to grab on to or sympathise with as a character.
Leo's Room doesn't know quite where it sits as a film. Stuck between an episode of Hollyoaks and a Lars von Trier epic, the really intrusive use of music seems like an attempt to make it much more trendy and fashionable than it needs to. In a film that aims to be so natural and uncontrived, music is placed so uncomfortably on top of the action that it really detracts from the whole atmosphere it seems to be aiming for. Then, on the other hand, there are scenes where the director is trying too hard to create the unedited, hand-held feeling - the camera shake at the start of the film is very off putting and unnecessary, and there are a few shots that move very slowly due to the desire not to edit. A scene where Leo and Caro are sat together in his room is meant to be touching and sweet, but instead is slow and clunky.
The film is too subtle. A lot of the time it calls out for a big reaction from very minor events. It is obvious from the start of the film that it is to do with Leo's conflicts of sexual identity, but there never is truly a conflict to deal with. His sexual preference seems obvious from the start, yet the end of the film doesn't seem to give any more of an idea that the character has grown or changed in anyway. He has done things but not seemingly learnt anything, and that leaves the viewer unsatisfied.
A confused film that does show occasional signs of ingenuity and creativeness but overall misses the mark. With a better understanding of character, it could have been much easier to relate to, but as it is, there is no real emotional link between character and audience. Worth a go if you happen to stumble over it, but not one to go out of your way for. JP
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