I watched “Isaac” a Spanish film that leaves me wondering what the message is? In fact I have been ruminating all day what to say about the film. Perhaps that is a supreme compliment to the film that can’t be sliced and diced and simplified into a few descriptive lines. The distributor of the film Breaking Glass Pictures of Philadelphia has a line of international LGBTQ films it distributes but I struggle with the assumption that this is an LGBTQ film. At best it is a film dealing with a set complicated inter-personal relationships that has an element to it of LGBTQ. Coming out of the closet for an LGBTQ is difficult. In this film coming out is fuelled by lust as opposed to any intellectual decision making.
Nacho and his wife Marta are successful lawyers in Barcelona with Marta being from an upper crust family. Marta can’t conceive and adoption is unthinkable for her upper-class parents who favour a discrete surrogate adoption illegal in Spain.
Denis is an unsuccessful illustrator living with his wife Carmen. Denis would dearly love to open a restaurant but is short of cash. He needs some cash so he approaches his adolescent friend Nacho totally out of the blue for a loan.
Despite surrogacy parenthood being illegal in Spain Denis and Nacho and their respective spouses enter into a surrogacy contract where Carmen will bear a child for Nacho and Marta. Somewhat of a business deal. Denis will get enough cash to open his restaurant. A selfish prig?
But flashing back to the past Nacho and Denis were homosexual hotties back in high school days. While there are no gay vibes in their relationships with their wives Nacho and Denis suddenly go at it like eager horny beavers. And rather publicly. Nacho is being groomed for political office so such a tryst would be political suicide!
Lust rules the day and explodes just about everything in a seemingly “normal” Spanish relationship.
So my take on the film is that coming out of the closet can be dictated by lust and while liberating can be destructive to many around those that are coming out. Coming out can be a sort of destructive self liberation. Is it based on uncontrollable lust? But again can this describe heterosexual relationships?
The film was based on a play by Antonio Hernádez and is directed by Angeles Hernandez and Mr. Miyagi.
“Isaac” will be available on DVD and VOD platforms including iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Vimeo and through local cable and satellite providers on November 16. You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stGy6ZV4l4Q
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