Teus Olhos Meus (Portuguese) [Soulbound]

I wanted to like this film. I really did, despite its erratic direction, sometimes split screen visuals and scenes jumping from one event to other without sufficient explanation. The story was fine and after initial discomfort, you kinda get a hang of things but the end was so abrupt. The shock value in the end was interesting but a proper culmination was also needed. You can't just shock the audience and leave the story just there.

Gil is a 20 year old young man who lives with her aunt and her husband, since his mother died at a very young age. Gil loves his aunt to death but cannot stand his uncle. Due to the differences between then, the uncle throws Gil out of the house. Gil's life style is all about smoking, guitar, music and alcohol. When even his girlfriend cannot accommodate him at night, he is at the beach looking for alcohol where he meets 40 something Otavio. We earlier see that Otavio is with his boyfriend and he still very much remembers his teenage years when he was in love with this girl named Ligia. Gil and Otavio bond over alcohol and music, turning their chance meeting into an all nighter ending in a passionate kiss. Confused Gil ends up at Otavio's office looking for job. Otavio apologizes for the kiss and gives an opportunity to Gil and his group to record their songs, since he truly believes they are talented. Gil and Otavio end up becoming a couple, despite Gil's weird lifestyle of alcohol once in a while. But we do see Gil slowly becoming more responsible. When Gil takes Otavio to meet his aunt after the uncle dies, she is not prepared for what she sees. The aunt then tells Otavio of a shocking revelation that hits Otavio like a thunder.

The camerawork of the film was weird. It would sometimes shake so much, that it was hard to watch the film without getting a headache. There were sometimes extreme closeups, some poor choice of coverage and shots and overall a mixed bag. Like I mentioned earlier even editing was flawed cos the scenes would just move one one situation to another just randomly without any explanation. One minute we see the couple fighting and Otavio asking Gil to move out and in the very next scene, we see Gil taking Otavio to meet his aunt. There is no explanation given on why is Gil still very much into alcohol, sometimes lies to Otavio and then suddenly has a change of heart. On a positive note, the acting by the leads was quite decent and I think Gil can do something big.

I just the final twist should have come earlier, so that there was scope in the story to examine the emotional impact. (4.5/10)