Un Rubio [The Blonde One] **** (2019, Gaston Re, Alfonso Barón, Malena Irusta) – Classic Movie Review 12,410

Marco Berger’s bittersweet 2019 Argentine romantic drama film Un Rubio [The Blonde One] stars Gaston Re and Alfonso Barón as housemates who start up a tender and intimate relationship.

Writer/ director Marco Berger’s bittersweet 2019 Argentine romantic drama film Un Rubio [The Blonde One] stars Gaston Re and Alfonso Barón as Gabriel [Gabo] and Juan, who are co-workers in a lumberyard in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. The somewhat shy, reserved and thoughtful Gabriel rents a room in Juan’s suburban apartment, and, despite Gabo’s reluctance to follow Juan’s wandering hands and meaningful looks, a sexual relationship based initially on convenience of location soon develops.

But in a while, despite Juan’s need for other lovers, both male and female, the attraction between the two men becomes undeniable, and a co-existence and a real, deep bond start up in a tender and intimate relationship. But it turns out that Juan’s commitment is on an entirely different level from Gabo’s. Indeed, ultimately, he is hardly committed at all. He wants it to carry on as a convenience come what may. Juan has a loving feeling for Gabo, but really he is basically just using Gabo for his lust and does not deserve him.

Berger’s script is intelligent, nuanced and clever, subtly probing the twists and turns of the relationship, and his steady, pictorial film-making style is engrossing and stylish. Under close scrutiny by Marco Berger, his expressive stars Gaston Re and Alfonso Barón are tremendous as the yin and yang odd couple, playing out and explaining fully their characters’ intense chemistry, their simultaneous fit and misfit. Opposites attract, eh? Well, maybe, but they can also repel. What do we have here? A bit of both actually, as the duo come together and move in opposite directions.

[Spoiler alert] The story’s payoff is heart-breaking, as Gabo comes clean and tells his young daughter all about Juan and about himself. The girl is so much wiser than the two men. How did that happen? The ending is just slightly cheesy but it works very nicely, in a film where everything works very nicely.

The films of Marco Berger: Plan B (2009), Absent [Ausente] (2011), Hawaii (2013), Butterfly [Mariposa] (2015), Taekwondo (2016), The Blond One [Un Rubio] (2019),Young Hunter [El Cazador] (2020), The Carnival (2021), and Horseplay (2023).

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,410

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