The Way He Looks, 2014.
Directed by Daniel Ribeiro.
Starring Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi and Tess Amorim.
SYNOPSIS:
Leonardo, blind from birth, discovers that he is gay and in love with Gabriel, his best friend. Amidst school projects, a need to break free from his parents, and the changing dynamic in his friendship with Giovanna, whom he’s known since childhood, Leonardo begins to understand himself, and to believe that a future with Gabriel could be possible.
Writer-director Daniel Ribeiro’s debut feature The Way He Looks is a longer and more developed version of I Don’t Want To Go Back Alone, the sensational award-winning short film about a blind boy who falls in love with his best friend, also a boy. Where does our attraction to others come from, if not from their looks? This adorable coming-of-age story seeks to answer these questions with a playful yet vulnerable honesty, set against the vibrant backdrop of São Paulo, Brazil, and the school and homes of three kids tangled up in the awkward dance of growing up.
The film focuses on Leonardo (Ghilherme Lobo), a teenager blind since birth, as he discovers his sexuality and his feelings for the new boy in town, Gabriel (Fabio Audi). Along with his childhood friend Giovanna (Tess Amorim), who seems to harbour romantic feelings for him, Leo befriends Gabriel and the three become inseparable. That is, until a school project on Ancient Greece inevitably divides the group, propelling Leo’s feelings for Gabriel to grow and inciting Giovanna to confront her own unspoken affections for both boys.
Daniel Ribeiro’s expertly written screenplay follows the three teenagers as they fight and make up, at school and at home and at parties and camping trips, capturing the reality of teenage life regardless of sexuality or the ability to see. The longing for independence, secrets and private emotions, and the feeling of falling in love for the first time are relatable no matter where one’s from or who they’re attracted to, and that’s why The Way He Looks speaks to the hearts of all. With an exceptional soundtrack featuring Belle and Sebastian’s There’s Too Much Love as a tone-setting piece, the film is bound to make you smile.
The three actors reprise their roles from the short, three years since I Don’t Want To Go Back Alone premiered online and at several festivals around the world. Ghilherme Lobo delivers a fantastic performance as the lead, Leo, who struggles with discovering his budding attraction for his friend and teeters between doing something about it or staying quiet, all the while becoming increasingly stifled by his parents’ overprotectiveness that leaves him little room to breathe. As Leo begins to toy with the idea of an exchange program abroad, his relationship with his best friend Giovanna begins to strain, and as tensions rise the confrontation between them becomes inevitable.
Striking a fantastic balance between drama, comedy, and emotion, always on just the right side of lighthearted versus heavy, and best described as truthful, heartwarming, and spellbinding, The Way He Looks is absolutely worth your time and money a million times over. Out on DVD on February 9th.
Flickering Myth rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ ★/ Movie ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Read my interview with the writer and director, Daniel Ribeiro here.
Kat Kourbeti – follow me on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&v=qqtW2LRPtQY
Originally published February 12, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
