the
eye of the beholder
by Douglas Messerli
Miguel Casanova and
Danilà Serra Couchetiez (screenplay), Danilà Serra
Couchetiez (director) En la Azotea (On the Roof) / 2015 [11
min.]
A group of five young
boys (played by Nil Cardoner, Roger Príncep, Biel Estivill, Pal Hinojosa, and
Arnau Aizpitarte) gather together high on the roof of an apartment building in
order to watch on the roof below a woman (Carla Guardia) who daily bathes in
the nude below.
They all seem disappointed, however, when
she sits down, her back to them, to take in the sun. All, that is except one,
who has not reached for the binoculars but has been staring over at another
roof somewhat above the one which captures the others’ attention to observe a
male (Carlos Noriega) strip off his clothes to reveal his tight ass, as he
showers in preparation for also soaking in the sun.
The youngest among them notices that while
the rest have turned back to one another, frustrated that their gazes have been
curtailed by the blonde’s sitting position, the last boy in the line continues
looking with open eyes, making it clear to him that his vision is focused not
on the woman but the man. He loudly relates that fact to the others, and when
the quieter boy does not immediately deny it, the youngest kid insists that he
must be gay, the others turning their focus on
No, insists the kid once more, I saw
where his eyes were looking…toward the man. Again, the accused boy denies it,
while his peers now come to his defense, turning their hostility to the
youngest. To prove his masculinity they tell the kid, he must stand on the
narrow ledge slightly above them to shoot a snap of the woman from that vantage
point.
Terrified of the danger involved, he
refuses, but the ring-leader, again calling him a faggot, declares the only way
he can prove his denial is to take the photograph. Once more, he cowers in
fear, the camera pulling back a little so that we can better see the height at
which they are demanding he stand.
The boy originally accused by the
younger now suddenly comes to the child’s defense, arguing that they should
leave him alone. But his intrusion into the scuffle only further puts his
sexuality in jeopardy, as he and the ring-leader threaten one another with
possible violence. When the boy interested in the male figure is threatened, he
momentarily backs off, but when they again challenge the younger kid to take
the photo, he once again insists they release him, insisting that he will
instead take the photo.
They hand him the camera, and he carefully
climbs to stand on the narrow ledge, at one moment almost appearing to fall,
but regaining his balance as he finally snaps the shot. Back on safe ground, he
shoves the camera in the ring-leader’s face, the others gathering round to ogle
at the image.
When they call up the photo it is the
showering man with his buttocks in full view.
They now all turn on the boy, calling
him a queer, a faggot, and all the names in the teenage vocabulary for anyone
who does not share their sexual desires.
The final scene shows the same boy
bicycling away from all the others, having obviously come to realize something
about himself that perhaps he has never before known or, even if he has
perceived his sexual differences, has certainly never before publicly avowed
it. And we now realize just how brave the boy was, not only to put his body in
danger upon the ledge, but in daring to put his entire relationship with his
former friends and others who will certainly hear of this occurrence in
jeopardy.
If this short film is a simple one, it
is nonetheless highly revealing of what anyone who suddenly admits to a sexual
reality different from the so-called “normal” one must face. If he,
fortunately, has not fallen from the ledge, he has now leaped into a world that
puts in a more long-lasting peril.
Los Angeles, October 11,
2020
Reprinted from World
Cinema Review and My Queer Cinema blog (October 2020).
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