Bombay Boys (1998)

This is an unorthodox comedy film about the adventures of three young men of Indian origin (NRIs as commonly known) and raised in New York, Sydney and London. All three arrived on the same day at Mumbai International Airport where they accidentally meet. Krishna Sahni (Naveen Andrews) is an aspiring actor from New York who wants to make it big in Bollywood; Ricardo Fernandes (Rahul Bose) is from Sydney who is trying to search for his long-lost brother; and Xerxes Mistry (Alexander Gifford), a musician from London who is looking to discover his "roots" in the land of his ancestors.



This film makes its statements in stylish and innovative ways not so common in Bollywood and beneath its satirical surface is a genuinely funny film. Remember that this is just a fiction feature of which intention is just to entertain. Certainly one of my favourite films from India...

Apo Tin Akri Tis Polis - Από την άκρη της πόλης (1998)

Ο δεκαοκτάχρονος Σάσα και οι μικρότεροι σε ηλικία φίλοι του Κοτσιάν και Παναγιώτης βρίσκονται στο επίκεντρο μιας παρέας ρωσοπόντιων μεταναστών από το Καζακστάν, που ζουν στο Μενίδι και ονειρεύονται να κατακτήσουν τον κόσμο. Ο Σάσα βρίσκεται σε διαρκή σύγκρουση με τον πατέρα του, σταματά τη δουλειά σε οικοδομή που απεχθάνεται και σπρώχνει τον Παναγιώτη στην αγκαλιά ενός πλούσιου νεαρού ομοφυλόφιλου, του Νίκου. Όταν ένας σωματέμπορος, ο Γιώργος, του ζητάει να φυλάξει την πόρνη Νατάσα ώσπου να βρει να την πουλήσει, αυτός την ερωτεύεται και την πηγαίνει σπίτι του. Ο πατέρας του όμως τους πετάει χωρίς δισταγμό στο δρόμο. Στο μεταξύ, ένας φίλος του πεθαίνει από νοθευμένη ηρωίνη αλλά και ο Παναγιώτης θα έχει την ίδια τύχη, καθώς προσπαθεί να δραπετεύσει από το διαμέρισμα του Νίκου, όπου έχει μπει για να κλέψει. Ο Σάσα ζητάει από τον Κοτσιάν να τους βοηθήσει να φύγουν από την πόλη αλλά εκείνος αναγκάζεται να τον προδώσει στον Γιώργο. Στη συμπλοκή που ακολουθεί, ο Σάσα σκοτώνει τον Γιώργο και συλλαμβάνεται απ’ την αστυνομία, ενώ η Νατάσα ακολουθεί τη δικιά της μοίρα.

Barely eighteen years old Sasha (Stathis Papadopoulos) and his childhood friends Kotsian and Pangiotis are the central characters of this film about Greek-Russian immigrants from Kazakhstan. Now living in Menidi, a poor neighbourhood on the western outskirts of Athens, they try hard to fit in as they dream of conquering the world. Sasha is always in conflict with his father, suddenly decides to stop working in the construction site and bullies Pangiotis about his relationship with a rich young gay Nikos. Aware that he is jobless, Giorgos, a blackmailing pimp asks him to look after Natasha, a Russian prostitute, until he finds her the rightful buyer. Instead, he falls for her, escapes with her and returns home. When his father sees Natasha, he asks them to leave the house immediately without hesitation. Simultaneously, another friend is dying of tainted heroin and Pangiotis meets the same fate when he tries to steal from Nikos’ apartment. After being thrown away, Sasha then asks Kotsian to help them leave the city but Kotsian betrays him in favour of Giorgos. In a fight that follows, Sasha kills Giorgos… he gets arrested whilst Natasha follows her own destiny.

(In GREEK with ENGLISH subtitles)

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Carícies (1998)

La ciudad, inquieta, de noche. Asistimos a una ronda (discontinua) de once historias de personajes con diferentes relaciones: parejas, madre-hija, compañeros, hermanos, jóvenes-viejos, padre-hijo, amantes, padre-hija, madre-hijo..., que no consiguen acariciarse (comunicarse, amarse). Época actual, final de milenio. Situaciones desnudas donde el ser humano hace aflorar sus emociones más intensas y también sus más bajos instintos. Desamor, pero también amor. Muchas posibles formas de amor. Pese a la cercanía, las personas pueden ser del todo desconocidas. Hablan sin escuchar, escuchan sin oir y actuan sin mirar. Pero también puede haber una chispa de esperanza, de comunicación, unas caricias.

The city, restless, at night. A chain of eleven stories complete a circle, linked by characters with different relationships: couples, mother-daughter, friends, brother-sisters, young-old people, father-son, lovers, father-daughter, mother-son, who cannot manage to communicate through love, to caress. It is set in the present, at the end of this millennium. These are naked moments in which human beings show their most intense emotions, as well as their basic instincts, love/hate, but also love in its many forms. Despite proximity, people can be total strangers. They can talk without listening, listen without feeling and act without thinking. But there can also be a spark of hope, of communication, a few caresses.

Story 1: A young man no longer wants to live with her girlfriend as he believes that the sweetness of their relationship has gone bitter...

Story 2: The girlfriends goes out to meet her mother on the latter's request...

Story 3: Then the mother meets her lesbian lover in a café and reminisces the good ole days...

Story 4: After dinner at around 21:30, the lesbian lover finally locates her homeless brother after ten years and tries to ask forgiveness for having an affair with his ex-wife in the past whilst he is collecting food from the garbage for his dinner...

Story 5: The old man goes to his sleeping territory and a young teenage boy wakes him up and asks him for money but ends up stealing his wedding ring...

Story 6: The young boy then runs home and plays his thing whilst enjoying a soak in the bath tub when suddenly his father enters. The boy asks his father to join him and compares his to his father's...

Story 7: Earlier that day at the train station, the father tries to break up his relationship with his other woman by insulting her...

Story 8: That other woman visits his father and ends up arguing with him...

Story 9: After the heated argument, the father goes to his other home where he maintains a young handsome hustler. He speaks about his youth and how his daughter not know about his being a homosexual.

Story 10: Goes back to an earlier time which should be simultaneously happening with Story 1 - The young hustler visits his mother and dines with her whilst he tries hard to let her know what he is and what he does...

Story 11: As the mother watches her son go, she heard someone knocking at the door and when she opens, the young man in Story 1 is asking her to spare him some olive oil...

CARÍCIES titled CARESSES in English is a pleasant watch. To activate video streaming, click on hyperlinked story numbers...

(In SPANISH & CATALAN with ENGLISH subtitles)

Scènes de Lit (1998)

Scènes de Lit (1998)

SCÈNES DE LIT (BEDTIME STORIES, internationally) consists of seven brief scenes, each with a couple, explore the surprises and the changes of heart that can occur during sexual encounters. Only one of the seven couples has been in bed together before; several are strangers or new acquaintances.

 Le Trou Noir (The Black Hole) – A soldier requests from a prostitute the special service she is well-known for...

 Monsieur Propre (Mr Clean) – Whilst in the verge of having casual sex, a man brought up his distinctive ideas about cleanliness...

 Madame – A teenager follows a woman, thirty-three years his senior, home...

 Tête Bêche (Heads or Tails) – A French boyfriend and Spanish girlfriend have fun before having sex...

 L’Homme Idéal (The Ideal Man) – A shrink comforts her young female friend after being ignored by her ideal man...

 L’Amour Dans Le Noir (Love in the Dark) – A woman wants the lights left on whilst doing it...

 Les Puceaux (The Virgins) – A gay man teases a young straight teenager...

(In FRENCH with ENGLISH subtitles)

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L'Homme Est Une Femme Comme Les Autres (1998)

Simon Eskanazy, un jeune clarinettiste homosexuel d'origine juive, résiste à sa mère qui voudrait bien le voir marié. L'oncle de Simon, un riche banquier, lui propose de devenir son héritier, à une condition cependant : qu'il convole enfin et ait un descendant. Simon rejette tout d'abord cette proposition mais, expulsé de son appartement, il finit par répondre aux avances d'une cantatrice yiddish, Rosalie Baumann. Elle l'aime sincèrement et a décidé de rester vierge jusqu'au jour de son mariage. Par honnêteté, Simon révèle à Rosalie son homosexualité. Le mariage a tout de même lieu et il est consommé le soir même...

Simon Eskanazy is a young Jewish clarinetist who happens to be gay, resists the demands of his mother that he gets married. Simon's uncle, a wealthy banker, offered him to become his heir in one condition: that he finally ties a knot and gives the family a descendant. He refuses the proposal so he is evicted of his apartment and his luxurious allowance is cut, that's when he finally accepts the advances of a Yiddish singer, Rosalie Baumann. She loves Simon dearly and decides to remain a virgin until their wedding night. Simon honestly reveals his homosexuality to her and the wedding still continues...

L'HOMME EST UNE FEMME COMME LES AUTRES (MAN IS A WOMAN in the US) is an entertaining romantic dramedy that I really enjoyed watching and I have a feeling that a lot of you will do, too.

(In FRENCH & ENGLISH with ENGLISH & FRENCH subtitles)

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No Se Lo Digas A Nadie (1998)

Joaquín Camino (Santiago Magill) es un joven de la alta sociedad de Lima que tiene tendencias homosexuales, por lo que se ve enfrentado a los prejuicios de sus propios padres y al rechazo de una sociedad homofóbica y supuestamente muy conservadora, aunque altamente hipócrita. La película describe una serie de situaciones que le suceden a Joaquín, desde su adolescencia hasta la edad adulta.

Joaquín Camino (Santiago Magill) is a young man from the high society of Lima who has homosexual tendencies, a result of the prejudices of his own parents and the rejection of a homophobic society that is supposedly very conservative, although highly hypocritical. The movie describes a series of events that happen to Joaquín, from his adolescence up to the adulthood.

There's nothing much to say about this autobiographical-like film other than I thoroughly enjoyed it... smiled a lot... and even felt sexual on some occasions. Simply intriguing... pssst! NO SE LO DIGAS A NADIE (DON'T TELL ANYMONE)!

(In SPANISH with ENGLISH subtitles)

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F. Est Un Salaud (1998)

Dans les années 70, Beni (Vincent Branchet), un adolescent épris d'émancipation, tombe amoureux de Fogi (Frédéric Andrau), chanteur et leader rebelle d'un groupe de rock. Tout à sa passion, Beni ne perçoit pas la déchéance de Fogi, dont il devient l'esclave. Quand il ouvre enfin les yeux, il tente de se raccrocher à son amour mais devra prendre la décision la plus terrible de sa vie.

In the seventies, Beni (Vincent Branchet), a teenager falls in love with the lead singer of a popular rock band Fogi (Frédéric Andrau). The self-absorbed rocker soon cools down and his attitude toward Beni veers into sadism. To pay for Fogi's drug habit, the obsessed Beni agrees to sleep with other men, sometimes wearing a collar, and soon he begins to fantasize that he's a dog. When Beni starts to realise that Fogi is at the edge of losing himself, he holds his love but will have to make the worst decision in his life...

F. EST UN SALAUD is a Swiss film titled FOGI IS A BASTARD in English with a cast of French actors. It is a very disturbing piece but a very good one that it had won for itself Best Film in at least one of the film festivals. It's a story of love so powerful that it can destroy one's life. And it also showed how terrifying drugs can be when it overpowers its users. It makes me believe that on occasions, it is best not to give all, and putting limitations sometimes works more successfully.

(In FRENCH with ENGLISH subtitles)

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Amic/Amat (1998)

Un hombre maduro y enfermo, profesor de literatura medieval, ha hecho recuento de su vida y ha decidido, entre dudas, qué es lo que le interesa dejar a los demás cuando haya desaparecido. Una herencia en forma de ensayo que ha insertado en la memoria de su ordenador personal. Al mejor y más antiguo de sus amigos le repugna una herencia que pueda estar contaminada por el miedo a la muerte. El mejor y más reciente de sus alumnos se niega a aceptar ser el heredero; pretende así preservar una oscura y ambigua libertad. Ese mejor y más antiguo de sus amigos está casado y tiene una hija. Un hombre casi feliz, con las cosas claras, a quien su mujer quiere tanto y tanto y tanto... Lástima que la hija, en cambio, viene a contarles determinado pequeño problema. ¿Pero es ella quien realmente tiene problemas? Los cinco personajes, en una carrera casi contra reloj, se debaten, luchan y se agreden, todos contra todos, al tiempo que descubren mútuamente la raíz de sus afectos, de sus pasiones, y reconsideran casi traumáticamente su futuro. Un futuro completamente incomprensible pero del que, según para quien, depende la salvación...

A mature and dying medieval literature professor Jaume Clarà (Josep Maria Pou) has gone over his personal life and has decided, amongst his doubts, what he wants to leave an inheritance in a form of an essay once he passes away which he has saved on his personal computer. His best friend Pere Roure (Mario Gas) is bothered that it could be tainted by the fear of death. His best student David Vila (David Selvas) does not want to be an heir as he wants to keep his dark and ambiguous freedom. On the other hand, Pere is a very happy man as long as things go well and he is so loved by his wife Fanny (Rosa Sardà). One day, their daughter Alba (Irene Montalà) paid them a visit to inform them of a slight problem. But is she the one who really has problems? The five characters, in an almost race against the clock, argue, struggle and hurt each other, everyone against everyone, whilst at the same time they discover mutually the roots of their affection, their passion, and almost traumatically reconsider their future -- a completely incomprehensible future, but on which, depending upon who, depends salvation...

AMIC/AMAT is about relationships and true friendships. In every battle there are victors but who are the losers in the end? This is another masterpiece from Spain with stellar performances by its actors. Another must-see!

(In SPANISH with ENGLISH subtitles)

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