Miguel Lafuente | Mario, Kike y David (Mario, Kike and David) / 2016

choices

by Douglas Messerli

 

Miguel Lafuente (screenwriter and director) Mario, Kike y David (Mario, Kike and David) / 2016 [20 minutes]

 

Despite the fact that most of the LGBTQ community identify themselves as bisexual or lesbian, most of the LGBTQ films being made are about gays, and perhaps the least understood of the alphabet mix are bisexuals, who most gay men believe are simply gay men attempting to deflect the fact that they are truly gay.

      Spanish director Miguel Lafuente’s quite lovely film, Mario, Kike and David attempts, quite successfully, to deconstruct the issue. Presumably on Grindr or some such service, Mario (Almagro San Miguel) has called up for a date, meeting up with the man who describes himself as Kike (Gustavo Rojo) for sex.

     They have a wonderfully joyful sexual encounter, discussing their bisexual situations, and how being so has destroyed their possible relationships with previous girlfriends. They both admit it might be easier for them to describe themselves as gay, which would at least allow them to end their female relationships with some pity and respect.

       They meet again and again over a period of months and begin to develop a relationship but still, Mario in particular, seeks out female relationships, and after their fourth time together, when he is drunk, he leaves his now beloved friend for his new girlfriend, Paloma (Mariu Bárcena).

        In fact, without being able to admit it, they have fallen in love, and the new relationship has resulted in Kike (whose real name is apparently Davide) hooking up with gay man Julián. Weeks or even months later they meet up on what appears to be a LGBTQ Pride Day, Mario introducing Paloma to his old friend and Davide introducing Julián to the both of them.

        Paloma seems attracted to Kike (Davide), wondering how Mario has met him, and suggests perhaps that David isn’t entirely gay and that perhaps they might explore a threesome.

        Whether or not it is now to late for that possibility—one which both Mario and Kike have previously contemplated—is not explored. David appears now to be a committed gay man, although it’s clear he still has feelings for Mario, so we can’t know whether or not such a situation might even still be possible. But this film clearly suggests that when it comes to bisexuality the sexes remain relatively fluid. Mario has made a choice and so, evidently, as David, and the betwixt and between has perhaps been lost to their previous desires. Society demands either or choices, and both of these truly bisexual men have perhaps lost the opportunity to experience the pleasures of both sexes.

       What is apparent in Lafuente’s film is that the male’s sexual encounters were fulfilling and totally pleasurable. We cannot know whether Mario’s relationship with Paloma or David’s relationship with Julián offers them the same excitement that the two males previously shared with one another. And there is a sense of melancholy as they both look back at one another with clear longing.

      In that respect, this film seems to fall into the category of gays describing bisexuals as gay men who aren’t totally able to embrace their full sexuality. But fortunately, director Lafuente doesn’t offer us easy answers. If one seeks out longer relationships, choices eventually must be made, no matter how open one is to both sexes.

 

Los Angeles, November 22, 2024

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema (November 2024).