![]() ![]() Leonardo is intrigued, Gabriel solicitous. His wisecracking best friend, Giovana (Tess Amorim), vigilantly looks out for him even though he’s blithely unaware of the torch she carries. Then new kid Gabriel (Fabio Audi) arrives in class, a sudden object of interest for all the girls. Leonardo (Ghilherme Lobo), blind from birth, is largely well integrated into his school in Sao Paulo, though a few bullying kids occasionally make life unpleasant. Ribeiro first floated the story in his short “I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone,” made expressly to raise funding for the feature. However, its affirmative stance could be vitally formative for gay teens, and Berlin’s Teddy Award, plus Fipresci’s Panorama nod, should open doors to niche release worldwide. ![]() Centered on a blind high schooler chomping at the bit for independence while discovering his sexuality, the pic has genuine appeal, though in truth the script and direction are little more than average. The movie offers a lesson, too: We are all - young and old, the worst and the best of us - still capable of blossoming.Everyone will root for the two teen protags in Daniel Ribeiro’s sweet gay coming-of-age debut, “ The Way He Looks,” since the boys are so likable and their route to first love has an undeniably touching quality. You certainly feel it from the triad at the center of the film, but it’s also there in every other character: Leo’s parents his patient grandmother (Selma Egrei) his impatient teacher (Naruna Costa) even Leo’s homophobic classmate Fabio (Pedro Carvalho), who receives, at the end of the movie, not a comeuppance, but a kind of education. What Ribeiro evokes from his cast is a sense of awakening life. This is some of the most accessible, touching and direct acting I have seen all year, in any film. Its young star, who is not actually blind, delivers a soulful, entirely natural and convincing performance, as do Amorim and Audi. Ribeiro has an uncanny eye for the telling emotional gesture, and “The Way He Looks” is full of them. That scene is one of the slightest, yet also one of the sweetest and most genuine in the film. And yet their son also happily accepts help shaving from his father. They disapprove, mostly out of fears for his safety Leo doesn’t understand why they think he can’t take care of himself. Several scenes feature discussions between Leo and his folks about his proposed participation in a foreign-exchange program. Chafing under the helicopter parenting of his well-meaning mother and father (Lúcia Romano and Eucir de Souza), Leo starts seeking independence in ways large and small. Nevertheless, Ribeiro manages to wring a lot of juice from these dry developments, and from Leo’s evolving home life. Gabriel’s friendship with another classmate, the flirtatious Karina (Isabela Guasco), adds a slight wrinkle to the plot - does Gabriel reciprocate Leo’s growing affections? - but otherwise the story is as straightforward as they come. When Gabriel (Fabio Audi), a cute new boy, enrolls at their school, his almost immediate connection with Leo threatens to undermine Giovana and Leo’s long-standing relationship. The main character Leo (Ghilherme Lobo) is a blind boy who spends nearly all of his free time with his childhood friend Giovana (Tess Amorim), a girl who - you can tell from the way she looks at him, though he can’t - wishes they were more than friends. Like its subject, first kisses and best friends, it’s hard to forget. Despite its theme of coming out (a transition made more difficult by adolescent bullying), it has the breezy feel of a smart, alternative pop song - specifically, Belle and Sebastian’s “ There’s Too Much Love,” which is featured several times in the film, becoming its touchstone.Īnd yet the tale, from Brazilian writer-director Daniel Ribeiro, is told with such tenderness, such intelligence and such aching honesty that it takes on the weight of something far more significant than puppy love. The teenage love story “ The Way He Looks” isn’t heavy. ![]()
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