Neco z Alenky (1988)

This spoke to me!
I was never this lucky in my youth, so I don't speak from experience. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. First, many say there's not enough work about gay youth and this fills that void, given the fear that some cultures have about teen sexuality, and specifically male-on-male action. Many people say actions come before identfications. There are adults who are far different from the children they were "playing doctor." This movie shows what happens as boys who mess around start to have a sexual identity and that sometimes this leads to two divergent paths. Many accounts say that boys fool around until somebody says something homophobic and the boys are faced with harsh reality. Imagine if the couple in "Brokeback Mountain" were teens, rather than adults. Some of those same tensions and realities are present here.
This work is realistic in that it features two pimply, fun-chasing, law-breaking teens. However, in US cinema, actors who aren't cute rarely get parts. It was shocking to see such average-looking persons in leading roles.
I wish my own country could come up with works this daring and true-to-life.

That Certain Summer
Dani (Fernando Ramallo) and Nico (Jordi Vilches) are two teenage friends who spend one summer together in the seaside near Barcelona. They are skinny, a bit awkward and average in looks, a lot like a lot of sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys who are experimenting with sex with each other and with girls. It may be just a phase that Nico is going through but Dani figures out, and is comfortable with his feelings, that he would rather spend time with Nico than with anyone else. As he tells Nico on one occasion: "I would watch you all day long." The film is in no way exploitive and shouldn't offend the most conservative of viewers. The sex between the young men hardly exists; the small amount of nudity is tastefully done. The naturalism of the film is refreshing and totally believable.

The two young men spend a lot of time on the beach in scenes that are beautifully filmed in this sweet coming-of-age film that will not disappoint you.

Lovely coming-of-age film
I bought this film for its promise of sunshine, feel-good charm, adolescent awakening and a tolerant treatment of homosexuality, and that's just what I got. It is a hundred percent enjoyable film of one summer in the lives of two friends. It is very refreshing to see a Spanish treatment of sexuality that is frank, funny and open without being tasteless -- what a liberating contrast to they way these things appear in most Hollywood films. The film is based on a successful play, and this shows in the thoughtful script. The two main characters are a delight: I have rarely seen such an almost cringe-makingly true-to-my-owm-memories rendition of teenage awkwardness. At the same time, these boys are not riven by angst but fumble their way through to a happy self-acceptance.