Film: Spinnin'
Release date: 15th November 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Eusebio Pastrana
Starring: Alejandro Torus, Olav Fernandez, Arantxa Valdiva, Carolina Toucedato, Guadalupe Perez Lancho
Genre: Drama
Studio: Bounty
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
AIDS; suicide; homosexuality; heterosexuality; family tension; friendship; religion; love - Spinnin’ covers it all in an astoundingly courageous debut from Spanish director Eusebio Pastrana. Scooping first place for Best Feature Film at The Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and coming in second at 2008’s San Diego Latino Film Festival, Pastrana’s first venture into feature film has clearly made an impact. No wonder.
Pastrana’s script knowingly beats the critics at their own job. Viewers are immediately introduced to the passionate Garate and Omar who plunge into satirical character analysis with rapid and revealing dialogue. Then, they fall in love.
The couple’s gay relationship expands into a four-way affiliation with an equally adoring lesbian couple. They share their home with each other and their friends, where secrets have no place and feelings are discussed freely. A spanner is thrown into this beautifully oiled machine, though, when one of each of the couples realises that there is one thing missing: a child…
This does not bear as much resemblance to a soap opera as may be expected. Pleasingly, there is no shouting or fighting - at least not between our protagonists. Although there are plenty of tears, endearingly they are met with affection, not friction. The characters’ faith in each other often surpasses the viewers, so deep is their understanding of one another. Despite their unconventional approach to life - or perhaps because of it - this is a family completely bonded by tenderness and love.
Hope and optimism permeates the film. “Wounds keep you alive,” viewers are constantly reminded. “Life is sad, but a good fight makes life interesting.” None of the characters fall into the trap of self-pity, but they address their problems communicatively and set the rest of us an example that we can only wish we were strong enough to imitate.
Garate spreads this warmth to unsuspecting friends he encounters on the street. A 13-year-old girl, caught in the midst of a custodial battle following the loss of her mother, finds reassurance in his empathy, inspired by his own mother’s death. The homeless are befriended with light-hearted games on the pavement. A workmate, betrayed by his pregnant wife, finds an outlet by opening up to his colleague. Garate’s own Christian father takes a spiritual dilemma to the counsel of his son; a dilemma founded on the fears that Garate and his family have built their paradise on. But the most significant friendship that Garate secures is that of Raquel. She is desperate for a lover and longs for human contact. Her own disastrous story is gradually uncovered and she proves pivotal to the family’s situation.
This story of convention versus deviation is a true portrait of human nature. Pastrana and his cast calmly address the three defining milestones that influence humanity: love, life and death. Rather than drawing attention to each controversy raised, the filmmaker works them into the script with a maturity that many new directors lack. Whereas they might rush headlong into a medley of clumsy statements contrived to raise eyebrows, the topics featured in Spinnin’ develop organically, barely noticeable in the flow of dialogue. Carried along by a naturalistic cast, it is only upon reflection that the number of potential points of outrage are realised: the speculation that God is gay, for example, or obligingly providing drug money for an HIV victim.
This patchwork of themes is perhaps what leads to what might be the film’s one fault: the number of personalities presented to the viewer. So many ideas are explored that Pastrana has created a complicated web of characters that may leave audiences falling behind the script. Nevertheless, by the end of the film, viewers will be left with a satisfying sense of closure on the story, but not on the themes. For this reason, Spinnin’ will stay with you for a very long time.
Without a scrap of angst or cheese, Pastrana dedicates Spinnin’ to the L-word. He examines love and reveals it in all its guises. Love between the sexes and amongst them; love across ages and class; parental love and amorous lust; love between friends and love within couples; the guilt that love generates, but also the support it offers. Ultimately, Spinnin’ is a love story, but not a romantic film. It’s a tale about a group of friends, but it’s not a teenage buddy movie.
Pastrana’s debut is a complex film – complex in terms of characters and themes. But it takes the viewer on a seamless journey, pursuing human nature. Unhurried, Pastrana leisurely and inoffensively tackles the stuff of contentious chat shows and gritty documentaries without the aggression and without the sentimentality. RS
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