Film: Don’t Look Down
Release date: 26th July 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 84 mins
Director: Eliseo Subiela
Starring: Leandro Stivelman, Antonella Costa, Hugo Arana, Mónica Galán, Octavio Borro
Genre: Erotica/Drama/Romance
Studio: Axiom
Format: DVD
Country: Argentina/France
Produced back in 2008, Magic Realist filmmaker Eliseo Subiela’s Don’t Look Down has finally found its way into UK circulation after experiencing problems with the Argentina film censors with regards to the film’s sexual content. Nevertheless, the film went on to secure wins at the Latin-American Film Festival (Best Film) and the Montreal Film Festival (Best Latin-American Film) two years ago.
When his father dies, 19-year-old Eloy (Leandro Stivelman) begins to sleepwalk during the night, whilst by day he sees visions of his father carrying handfuls of nuts and bolts, as well as rows of the dead sitting in front of the wall of the local cemetery. Eloy seems to have some higher form of spirituality. For a brief time, he is convinced that his father has been trying to communicate with him through his school exercise book.
During one of his sleepwalking perambulates, Eloy falls through the open skylight of a neighbour’s house, landing on the bed of Elvira (Antonella Costa), who is staying with her grandmother whilst on vacation. Both Elvira and her grandmother share a somewhat spiritual outlook on life - the grandmother is a therapist whereas Elvira is a studier of Tantra. Eloy and Elvira strike up a relationship and soon enough the more mature Elvira begins teaching Eloy the infinite possibilities of Tantric sex…
Constructed around the teachings of the Karma Sutra, it comes as no surprise that Don’t Look Down comes across more as a sex manual rather than as a fully formed story of romance and coming of age. Rather than the lovers wanting to explore each other both as people and playmates, their chief concern is that Eloy achieves a predetermined number of thrusts before he succumbs to pleasure, leading to a shallow and somewhat tedious viewing experience. Most of the film consists of the two interlocked in various Sutra recommended positions, whilst an early scene sees Eloy deciding on what to call his penis - he settles for Marlon in the end, in honour of the late Mr. Brando.
When they’re not naked, Eloy spends a lot of time dressed as a sandwich as way of part-time employment, or delivering ornaments and headstones to the local graveyard on his bike. The latter is usually accompanied by a ponderous voice-over discussing sudo-spirituality and reinforcing Eloy’s unexplained ability to see the dead languishing in deckchairs outside the cemetery they’re buried in. Eloy is also a keen stilt-walker; a stroll with Elvira four meters off the ground provides one of the film’s weirder images. Some of the film’s more entertaining moments surface during these magic realist segments, however, said moments are few and far between - nor is their potential truly fulfilled.
Performances all round are satisfactory. Stivelman, while a fairly attractive young man, sports a confused, mouth slightly agape expression for most of the film’s meagre running time. Costa, on the other hand, displays far more screen presence and chemistry but is still unable to elevate the prolonged Tantric contrivances between the two good-looking leads beyond being merely adequate. Also, it’s difficult to determine whether Elvira genuinely cares for Eloy, save for his increasing technique in horizontal refreshment. For Elvira, it only seems to be about sex. Only Eloy’s ghostly father (Hugo Arana) gives the film any true sense of warmth and charm. It would’ve been nice if he appeared more often.
However, to the film’s credit, the frequent sexual intercourse on display is handled, for the most part, in a very tasteful manner, and certainly doesn’t exhibit the awkward and embarrassed execution seen in many a Hollywood outing. It may be worth pointing out that all of the sex in Don’t Look Down is simulated, which admittedly does garner some steamy results. However, the problem lies in the sheer quantity of the act that holds little development except for the decidedly half-baked concept that their love-making may possess hallucinogenic properties – realised through Eloy having visions of visiting places and cities all over the world – not to mention plenty of rodomontading pillow-talk about sexual prowess and the like.
A commendable aspect of the production is director Eliseo Subiela’s eye for framing and composition, with the majority of the film’s cinematography looking wonderful. Through a combination of photography and art direction, Don’t Look Down offers a timeless look showcasing a 21st century Buenos Aires that could easily be mistaken for the Buenos Aires of forty or fifty years ago. The film certainly has a very classic feel, sticking to the more historical parts of the city – a labyrinth of weathered apartment blocks and rooftops. Again, the sex scenes are tastefully choreographed and framed, avoiding cheesy temptations, such as having a foreground object blocking certain body parts.
Don’t Look Down suffers from a distinct lack of purpose: too steamy for mass consumption; too sweet and naïve for seasoned skin watchers. Amidst the lovely camerawork, there is plethora of missed opportunities resulting in a well crafted film devoid of any substance, as the rather ponderous script fails to gain momentum or any real sense of focus for that matter. The results are watchable but highly disposable, with some eye-candy thrown in for good measure. MP
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