Rating: 
Summary: One of the few gay themed movies worth viewing
Review: For some reason, I feel it a need to rent all gay themed movies. You know what? I am almost always disappointed.
This movie proved to be an exception. Although in spanish with subtitles, it was easy to follow, had an incredibled script (although it was was somewhat depressing), and the lead actor , Santiago Magill is someone who would have a great future. This movie, seemed to fly by. It had an incredible soundtrack, scenery,
and cast. I cannot recommended this as one of 2 gay themed movies that I have seen (not done yet), that i would recommend. The other would be, In the flesh (weak in some aspects, but beautifully directed, and great score).
Rating: 
Summary: Square Peg for only Round Holes
Review: I endorse Timothy Halkin's comments, currently in the Spotlight."Don't Tell Anyone" focuses on Joaquin Camino (well played by Santiago Magill), a young gay Peruvian from a good family, who is trying to get established as an adult. The society as a whole is conservative, with strong family values and Catholic morals. Joaquin has two relationships with men, Gonzalo (played by Christian Meier) and Alfonso Cordoba (played by Giovanni Ciccia), who are both comfortably bisexual. They will each marry and have supplemental same-sex dalliances. Joaquin wants his relationships uncluttered with wives and girlfriends, outs himself to his parents, and tells Gonzalo's fiancee about the same-sex relationship. When a crisis emerges, Joaquin flees to Miami and lives there a year. We don't see Joaquin trying to meet a kindred spirit. It's just backrooms, tricks, and his cute bisexual roommate, who wants a wife. Joaquin's English is all right, and he is handsome. I just wonder why he didn't try harder to be in a relationship with a fully gay man. Joaquin's girl-friend Alejandra (played by Lucia Jimenez) gets him to return to Lima, where he graduates from a university. She has some idea of what is happening, but thinks she can help or cure him. At graduation, both Alfonso Cordoba amd Gonzalo advocate traditional marriage, with boyfriends on the side. It is a possibility that Joaquin might go along with this plan since the only alternative seems to be bachelorhood. A different way of looking at this movie is to note how unconflicted the bisexuals seem to be. Societies that are very rigid and universal in marriage practices or that frequently use arranged marriages tend to wink at adultery, knowing that the marriages themselves are semi-coerced. This opens a window for bisexuality in Peru that is not acceptable in differently-Puritanical America, where people are expected to marry for love, not convenience. Politics in the USA have carved out room for straights and for gays. (Joaquin should have done well here.) There are no institutions, programs, or real tolerance for bisexuality, even though more people are bi than gay. Bisexuals are to pick one sex and stick with it, at least serially. The movie shows a Latin American approach. Does the USA really have anything better?
Rating: 
Summary: EXCUSE ME?
Review: I WATCHED THIS FILM AFTER HAVING READ THE NOVEL EXPECTING IT TO HAVE LESS "BLACK HOLES" THAN THE NOVEL DID & IT TURNED OUT TO BE A WASTE OF TIME. I DISLIKED THE FACT THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER NEVER ATTAINED THE COURAGE TO STAND UP TO HIS IGNORANT, MISOGYNISTIC, & EXTREMELY HOMOPHOBIC FATHER. AT FIRST I FELT COMPASSION FOR JOAQUIN BUT AS THE STORY PROGRESSED I BEGAN TO ABHOR HIM FOR HIS LACK OF CHARACTER & SELF-ESTEEM. I COULD WRITE A BOOK ON WHY I DISLIKED THE NOVEL/FILM BUT I'LL SETTLE FOR REJOICING IN THE FACT THAT ALTHOUGH I HAD A SIMILAR CHILDHOOD I DIDN'T TURN OUT LIKE POOR JOAQUIN. LUCKY ME!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!
Review: I went to see this film in Lima, I read the book a year before the release of the movie. I really enjoyed it, is a very good film from one of the best peruviand directors. The story of a "in the closet" young boy, his struggles to try to be himself, find his sexuality in a society like Lima, where apparences are everything. Diego Maguill and Christian Meier, have a credible role, although the sex scenes are not so explicit, believe it or not they are for peruvian audiences. The only one that can't really be credible is that spanish actress, Ms. Jimenez, she really tries, but every peruvian knows she doesn't sound like a "pituca limeña". The songs are part of the story and I enjoyed every single one of them, specially the last one. I really recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!
Review: I went to see this film in Lima, I read the book a year before the release of the movie. I really enjoyed it, is a very good film from one of the best peruviand directors. The story of a "in the closet" young boy, his struggles to try to be himself, find his sexuality in a society like Lima, where apparences are everything. Diego Maguill and Christian Meier, have a credible role, although the sex scenes are not so explicit, believe it or not they are for peruvian audiences. The only one that can't really be credible is that spanish actress, Ms. Jimenez, she really tries, but every peruvian knows she doesn't sound like a "pituca limeña". The songs are part of the story and I enjoyed every single one of them, specially the last one. I really recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: strangly enough, in a sense a bit homophobic
Review: I'm not going to write a complete review of this DVD, the previous reviews already give a lot of information. Joaquin, the main character of this movie, is bisexual but with a preference for men. Then why is it that his first heterosexual encounter with a woman is shown quite explicitely, and his first homosexual encounter with a man is hardly shown at all? And this happens more often in this movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for a gay porn movie. However when the main character of a movie is predominantly gay, then it is a bit silly if his gay encounters are hardly shown at all, and his heterosexual encounters are shown lengthy and explicitely. The love scenes are important for the movie, but then homosexual encounters and heterosexual encounters should have been shown with equal explicity. The movie now feels rather unbalanced in this respect, and makes it much more difficult to understand the feelings of Joaquin.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this but preferred the book
Review: I'm not sure if the book is available in English, but Spanish speakers may want to check out the novel as well. Highly praised by fellow Peruvian writer, Vargas LLosa, the novel's main character, Joaquin, is not quite as "nice" as he's made out to be in the film. He's almost an anti-hero. I guess I was expecting the same snobby, racist character of the novel, hence my 3 stars. The acting was good, although the gay scenes weren't as "explicit" as the hetero ones. Still, a pretty brave film in a homophobic world. See it.
Rating:
Summary: Less heat than "Head On"
Review: Like the Australian film HEAD ON, this is about a young man at odds with his family and the male tradition of machismo. The young men of both films have a somewhat girlfriend who is the woman they will likely marry, and also an abusive father, one who lives by a very strict code of what a man is and what he should be doing. The young man in this film decides to break loose from the shackles of tradition and his family by declaring his homosexuality and living openly as a gay man. The impetus for doing so is a love affair with another man who is in a likewise predicament of girlfriend followed by marriage to be followed by doing what you really want, but on the side. The situations have an in-bred irony because of the sense of "whatever goes around, comes around." For those shy of drug use, there is regular ingestions of cocaine and marijuana. For those shy of nudity, there is both male and female, though no explicit sex scenes. Overall, considering what both films have in common, a young man's coming of age and coming out, heavy drug use as well as nudity, the film HEAD ON is sexier though hard-edged fun. DON'T TELL ANYONE is lighter fare, easier on the sensibilities. The only extras on the DVD are a gallery (still photos) and an assortment of trailers, though the only trailer for this film included is the Spanish one, not the one designed for non-Spanish speaking audiences which can be located on other DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: A Leason in Forced Bi-Sexuality!
Review: People like myself, who have spent their lives in fairly open and liberal environments, might have trouble with the ultimate statement of this film. It seems to be saying: if you can't beat them, join them. We observe in this film a young Peruvian's, Joaquin, struggle through his youth and adolescence with the knowledge that he is gay in a society that is both too macho and Catholic to tolerate alternative lifestyles - not to mention his family, which represents this society in microcosm. (Possibly his father's Hitler moustache is a tick over-the-top!) As a college freshman, he makes a desperate attempt with a nice, but highly naïve, girl to be "normal". He explains his problem to her, and she believes in her naiveté that she can cure him. Joaquin falls, however, madly in love and has an affair with Gonzalo, the fiancé of his girlfriend's best friend. Gonzalo is shock when Joaquin breaks off with his girlfriend out of love for him. Gonzalo explains that leading an openly gay life in Peru is not a viable option for him; he suggests that Joaquin come to his senses - meaning he should get back with his girlfriend, marry her even (as he intends to do with his), so they can go back to having their affair on the side without problems. Botching it up with Gonzalo by telling his fiancé of their affair, he quits school and goes on a drug and alcohol binge with his queer-bashing schoolmate, Alfonzo. Well, wonders never cease - Alfonzo has the hots for him and they sleep together. When asked why he beats up on gays in the park, he explains because they're queers, not like them - respectable people, who will marry, have kids and screw with men on the side. Alfonzo seems to have OD'ed on their wild drug binge, and Joaquin, terrified, runs off to America, hoping to leave this whole mess behind him and finally be able to find some happiness in life. He ends up dog-sitting in an attempt to make enough money to stay off the street as a hustler. In the end, he hates his life in Miami and returns to both his country and his girlfriend (who's still naïve enough to believe she can change him). He meets up first with Alfonzo (no, he didn't die), who is now married with a kid on the way (we can sense, however, what he's doing on the side) and with Gonzalo, who - despite the fact that he did not marry - claims to have not changed his opinion. In the end, it's clear that Joaquin will also marry, but have his "desert" on the side. At first, I was somewhat shocked by this, but then again, I've never had to live under such oppression. I'm assuming that many in North America and most European countries will have trouble identifying with this film, even find its characters somewhat despicable. It almost seems to be a glory hymn to bi-sexuality. On second thought, I felt like I should cut it some slack, though. Regardless of what you ultimately think about the film's message, it is well written, directed and acted...
Rating:
Summary: A Leason in Forced Bi-Sexuality!
Review: People like myself, who have spent their lives in fairly open and liberal environments, might have trouble with the ultimate statement of this film. It seems to be saying: if you can't beat them, join them. We observe in this film a young Peruvian's, Joaquin, struggle through his youth and adolescence with the knowledge that he is gay in a society that is both too macho and Catholic to tolerate alternative lifestyles - not to mention his family, which represents this society in microcosm. (Possibly his father's Hitler moustache is a tick over-the-top!) As a college freshman, he makes a desperate attempt with a nice, but highly naïve, girl to be "normal". He explains his problem to her, and she believes in her naiveté that she can cure him. Joaquin falls, however, madly in love and has an affair with Gonzalo, the fiancé of his girlfriend's best friend. Gonzalo is shock when Joaquin breaks off with his girlfriend out of love for him. Gonzalo explains that leading an openly gay life in Peru is not a viable option for him; he suggests that Joaquin come to his senses - meaning he should get back with his girlfriend, marry her even (as he intends to do with his), so they can go back to having their affair on the side without problems. Botching it up with Gonzalo by telling his fiancé of their affair, he quits school and goes on a drug and alcohol binge with his queer-bashing schoolmate, Alfonzo. Well, wonders never cease - Alfonzo has the hots for him and they sleep together. When asked why he beats up on gays in the park, he explains because they're queers, not like them - respectable people, who will marry, have kids and screw with men on the side. Alfonzo seems to have OD'ed on their wild drug binge, and Joaquin, terrified, runs off to America, hoping to leave this whole mess behind him and finally be able to find some happiness in life. He ends up dog-sitting in an attempt to make enough money to stay off the street as a hustler. In the end, he hates his life in Miami and returns to both his country and his girlfriend (who's still naïve enough to believe she can change him). He meets up first with Alfonzo (no, he didn't die), who is now married with a kid on the way (we can sense, however, what he's doing on the side) and with Gonzalo, who - despite the fact that he did not marry - claims to have not changed his opinion. In the end, it's clear that Joaquin will also marry, but have his "desert" on the side. At first, I was somewhat shocked by this, but then again, I've never had to live under such oppression. I'm assuming that many in North America and most European countries will have trouble identifying with this film, even find its characters somewhat despicable. It almost seems to be a glory hymn to bi-sexuality. On second thought, I felt like I should cut it some slack, though. Regardless of what you ultimately think about the film's message, it is well written, directed and acted...
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