A Escondidas [Hidden Away] *** (2014, Germán Alcarazu, Adil Koukouh) – Classic Movie Review 12,365

Writer/ director Mikel Rueda’s thoughtful and emotionally charged 2014 Spanish romantic drama film A Escondidas [Hidden Away] follows the story of teenage boys Rafa and Ibrahim, who befriend each other and experience adolescent first love. It is filmed in neighbourhoods throughout Bilbao, northern Spain, but the intention is that it could be a neighbourhood in any city.

Germán Alcarazu plays nice Spanish middle-class boy Rafa, who is having problems with his aggressive, racist, homophobic friends and his uncertain sexuality. His best friend tells him kissing is easy, just practise kissing himself in the mirror, his first kiss. Under peer pressure, he tries it out on a girl, his second kiss, but then he encounters illegal Moroccan immigrant Ibra (Adil Koukouh). Ibra is a natural loner, lost and desperate in the streets of Bilbao. Rafa follows Ibra around, and they become inseparable, and eventually his third kiss.

But the two boys face the challenges of others’ racism and homophobia, their sexual identities and Ibra’s possible deportation. Ibra desperately does not want to return home, but the Spanish authorities are dogging him. The Spanish hate the Arabs, and the Arabs hate the Spanish. Almost everybody seems hate the gays. There is a lot of hate.

But there is a lot of love in the making of the film, and there is plenty of food for thought in this intelligent and moving drama tackling some big important issues while unfolding the love story. It is very thoughtful on the race and gay prejudice issues, linking them clearly. The two young actors are excellent, giving natural, appealing performances, suggesting longing and desire, as well as the need for freedom from fear and hate, a freedom to love freely and honourably, in a better world.

The idea is that Spain lives in a bubble where anyone who challenges normativity threatens to burst the bubble, and this creates fear in the normative community. Therefore, some people must live hidden away (A Escondidas) within or outside that bubble.

The cast are Germán Alcarazu as Rafa, Adil Koukouh as Ibra, Joseba Ugalde as Guille, Moussa Echarif as Youssef, Ana Wagener as Alicia, and Álex Angulo as Jose.

The film is dedicated to Álex Angulo, a Basque actor who died in a car crash in July 2014.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,365

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