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Selected as the Philippines’ official entry for the Academy Awards’ foreign-language film category, Blossoming is a thoroughly engaging, joyful, and emotionally complex drama about a flamboyant gay boy growing up in the slums of Manila. Having dropped out of school when his mother died, precocious twelve-year-old Maximo (superbly performed by Nathan Lopez) plays doting mother hen to his family of petty-crook tough guys, including his father and macho brothers. He cooks, cleans, mends their clothes, and fusses over them and they, in return, are touchingly protective of him. When his chores are done, he sashays through the shantytown back alleys to meet up with other gay boys to watch romantic movies and dress up for pretend beauty pageants. Maxi’s life is surprisingly uncomplicated, but all that changes when he is smitten by the handsome, honest, and incorruptible policeman, Victor, who is determined to snare Maxi’s criminal family in his net. Bemused by Maxi’s crush, Victor takes him under his wing and tries to show him the path to an honest life, but Maxi is faced with the impossible choice between protecting his family and loyalty to his new friend. Winner of awards at the Berlin, Rotterdam, and Hong Kong film festivals, Blossoming is a rare gem. 35mm, 100 min.
Reeling 2006: November 2 -12 | For more information call 773-293-1447 or email reeling@chicagofilmmakers.org |
