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O Fantasma-2000

Director João Pedro Rodrigues

Starring Ricardo Meneses

Scott’s Review #1,363

Reviewed May 25, 2023

Grade: B

The target audience for a film like O Fantasma (2000) can only be gay men or anyone macabre enough to want to see male pornographic eroticism mixed with sadomasochism.

There is more than one scene that is straight-up pornography. I’ll spare the details but most kinds of sex are on full display and do not look staged or faked.

It’s the type of film that I’m still digesting and ruminating over. I suppose that’s better than having forgotten it.

The director, a gay man named João Pedro Rodrigues, doesn’t sugarcoat the film’s subtext, which is a young man’s painful journey into self-awareness and homosexuality.

The film is set and shot in and around Lisbon, Portugal. Unfortunately, any palatial, lush, or culturally significant landmarks are not used. Instead, seedy, dark, and industrial areas are.

During the night, brooding, lonely Sergio (Ricardo Meneses) works as a trash collector. In between garbage dumps, he embarks on an increasingly dangerous journey of anonymous sexual encounters. Soon, he becomes fixated on one handsome stranger and ‘plows’ down a haunting path.

The opening scene immediately plunges the viewer into a subversive world. Two men, one clad completely in leather, the other naked, are engaging in rough anal sex. We do not who they are or how they figure into the story…….yet.

Speaking of story, O Fantasma doesn’t have much of one. Besides the brief synopsis listed above, Sergio spends a good amount of time playing with his dog, having sex with a policeman, and rebuffing his female co-worker Fátima (Beatriz Torcato) advances.

Oh yeah, Sergio also has time for more rough outdoor sex with his male boss, Virgilio (Eurico Vieira), drinking from puddles, and taking a dump in his clothes.

O Fantasma all seems rather pointless when its shell is peeled back and it’s dissected a little. I get that Sergio is a gay male who is self-hating and conflicted but I feel like I’ve seen that angle played enough times, and no, O Fantasma doesn’t turn about face and offer a happy ending.

Young men struggling with their sexuality in any way need not see this film. It will undoubtedly veer them off the next nearby cliff.

With that footprint relayed, a more mature gay man will find erotism and some titillation to experience and what’s so bad about that? But, O Fantasma is for grown-up audiences and tastes only.

To say that there are enough bare asses displayed to go around is a severe understatement. The naked front male appendages make frequent appearances both erect and flaccid. Oral and anal sex are given equal screen time and one poor bunny rabbit doesn’t stand a chance again an angry and hungry man.

I’m still cringing from that scene.

O Fantasma is a disturbing viewing but never boring. It’s not quite cerebral or artsy but boy does it mesmerize. I’ve never seen a film quite like it nor do I think I ever need to see it again.

This film would never have been made in the United States but European filmmakers get away with so much more skin and sex. That’s just a known fact.

Actor, Ricardo Meneses, doesn’t possess much acting range nor does he need to. He simply needs to glare, sulk, and stalk to make his character’s intention clear. He’s got a great body and even looks good when he sniffs a shower stall and licks Fátima’s face.

A peculiar dog reference abounds throughout the film, the sniffing, licking, and using of two real dogs among its cast. Does Sergio feel dog-like because of shame over his sexuality and/or his need for depravity and degradation?

I both liked and disliked O Fantasma (2000) but longed for a less ambiguous conclusion and a happier resolution for Sergio.

Major props to Rodrigues for crafting an innovative if not haunting production.

Black Orpheus-1959

Director Marcel Camus

Starring Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn

Scott’s Review #689

Reviewed October 8, 2017

Grade: A

Black Orpheus is a 1959 French film, made in Brazil, honored with a win in the coveted Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award category in 1960, considered somewhat of a surprise to win.

The film is adapted from the well-known Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, now set in Rio de Janeiro during the festive celebration of Carnaval.

Containing a cast of almost all black actors and providing a look at life on the streets of Brazil, Black Orpheus is vibrant and filled with lively songs and dances.

The setting is key to the film as the beauty and merriment are mixed with loss and tragedy- loads of exterior shots of Rio de Janeiro flesh out with many shots high atop a hill in a quaint village where all of the characters live most in very close proximity to each other.

Like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the film is romantic and lovely, but the story is also mired in jealousy and drama amid the dancing and many celebrations.

Many of the actors, lead Breno Mello and Marpessa Dawn, are non-actors, cast undoubtedly because of their gorgeous, authentic looks. Still, surprisingly both are phenomenal in their roles and perfectly cast.

Wholesome Eurydice (Dawn) arrives in Rio de Janeiro by trolley driven by Orpheus (Mello), intent on visiting her cousin, Serafina. There is an instant attraction between the young man and the woman as he provides directions to her cousin’s village, which is also his.

Orpheus, however, is engaged to be married to his possessive and demanding fiance, Mira, he is less than enthused about the impending marriage and would rather fix his guitar than buy Mira an engagement ring.

As the Carnival festivities get underway, Orpheus and Eurydice give in to their mutual attraction and dance the night away while subsequently trying to avoid the wrath of Mira and avoid a mysterious costumed man who has been stalking Eurydice since she escaped her village and fled to Rio.

Eurydice is terrified that the man may want to kill her and his motivations are unknown. His character is particularly frightening as he is known as “Death” and dons a tight, skeleton costume.

The tragic conclusion culminating in a wonderful chase scene in Orpheus’s trolley station is fantastic. The morbid ending is unsurprising based on the legendary Greek tale, the Romeo and Juliet comparisons are still heartbreaking and difficult to experience, most notably the final scene atop a cliff.

As the lovelorn couple topples down a hill together at the hands of another central character, the scene is shocking and difficult to watch. Intertwined in each other’s arms, the scene is also gorgeous and a confirmation of true love and artistic beauty.

Some accusations of racial stereotypes within this film have abounded over the years, mainly the depiction of Brazil being inhabited by party-going, sex-crazed people.

I find the film a masterpiece and the type of cinematic experience to be enjoyed rather than over-analyzed.

Particularly, the almost non-stop musical score created by Luiz Bonfa and Antonio Carlos Jobim is to die for and an enormous part of what makes the film so engaging and entertaining.

Perfectly capturing the spirit of a jovial, cultural, environment, Black Orpheus (1959) spins an interesting, heartbreaking tale of love amid a musical.

Tragedy, art, true love, romance, and death are all elements captured in this wonderful film.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Foreign Language Film (won)