The gay rites-of-passage picture is becoming familiar in continental cinemas. But while recent French offerings have taken themselves a tad too seriously, this Spanish tale of an insecure outsider battling to make his mark in yet another new school gets the blend of adolescent innocence and knowing comedy just about right.
Wide-eyed lead Lozano holds proceedings together with admirable composure, whether hes conversing with a make-believe Indian, or spectacularly failing to seduce pretty Carmen Navarro. Director Cuadri makes the most of his setting in the days before Francos 1975 demise to compare Lozanos sexual awakening with the national sense of liberation, but wisely doesnt overdo the parallels.
Droll, then, but not exactly deep.