Roberto F. Canuto | Siempre Toto (Toto Forever) / 2010

the postman who delivered his own life

by Douglas Messerli

 

Roberto F. Canuto and Xiaoxi Xu (screenplay), Roberto F. Canuto (director) Siempre Toto (Toto Forever) / 2010 [14 minutes]

 

This Spanish and US co-production, directed by Roberto F. Canuto as a graduation project at the New York Film Academy at Universal Studios, Los Angeles, was clearly meant to be an enticement for a longer feature film project which never occurred. Canuto himself observes that he created the characters almost as symbolic figures representing “the different stages of the society, or at least the society that surrounded the gay individuals.” Instead of concentrating on plot or character development, he focused on “feelings and emotions,” using plot to reveal “a wide range of emotions in a short period of time.”

     The film, accordingly, is shot out of sequence, as we begin the movie in media res on a sort of road adventure as the two central figures, Toto (Kylan James) and the heavily-wounded Mark (Kjord Davis) are in flight, although we discover from what they are fleeing only in flashbacks.

     We quickly perceive that Toto was a former mailman who simply delivered a package to Mark’s residence. Observing blood on the door handle, he entered the house uninvited, already prepared, it appears, to leap into another world with a different persona. By the pool, he found the handsome Mark, dressed only in a bikini, near death after having been beaten. As Toto bent to tend to his bloodied face, Mark told young man to go away and leave him alone.

      Yet later, we see Toto still there, ministering to Mark’s wounds. Mark is appreciative of the boy’s care, but warns him to leave immediately or he too will be subject to violence. Almost before he can finish the sentence the gangster (Alex Aguila) arrives demanding money. We never learn what kind of trouble Mark is in, but it is clearly serious since he is warned that he will die if he doesn’t deliver the money within a short period of time. To make sure that his message is properly understood, the mafioso figure once more beats Mark as Toto hides outside near the pool.

      Presumably, it was that last visitation that resulted in their travel. And as we return to the road scene, where Mark has stopped to rest before continuing his driving, we observe that the two males have already established a close sexual bond. Soon after, in a small hotel room, they make passionate love.

       Somehow the mafia hit man has found them, however, breaking down the door and shooting Mark dead, leaving Toto perhaps with some wounds but, far more seriously, with psychological problems. In the last scene, his nurse (Diana Grivas) finally observes him slightly smiling, with what he himself describes as a sense of “hope” that will help his get over the traumatic affair.

        The short scenes are presented might almost as Chinese opera-like representations wherein friezes and tableau call up the whole history of the genre in literature and culture. Indeed, Xiaoxi Xu co-wrote this work with Canuto, and would become Canuto’s partner for the many films that followed under the couple’s Almost Red Productions, often involving Chinese situations, stories, and cast such as Ni Jing: Thou Shall Not Steal (2013), Floating Melon (2015), Invisible Chengdu (2017), and Sunken Plum (2017).

       Premiering at the Kashish 1st Mumbai International Film Festival, Toto Forever, appeared in festivals throughout the world and is now considered a gay cult classic.

 

Los Angeles, April 16, 2023

Reprinted from World Cinema Review (April 2023).