Released in cinemas in 2005, Rainhas (Reinas) is one of those irresistible DVD options. Full of caricatured characters and a lot of confusion, the film wins due to the quality of the script, the editing and all the main actors, in addition to the excellent supporting cast. In honor of the period that marks Mother's Day, there is no more appropriate tribute.
The film begins on a Friday morning. We are soon introduced to the mothers who will be part of this panel of queens: the nymphomaniac, the judge, the tycoon, the movie star and the cook. They are all mothers of gay children who are getting married next Saturday. Through a series of confusions, the stories intersect in a formidable way, as was done masterfully by Paul Haggis in the drama Crash – No Limite. The involvement of the stories is not artificial, thanks also to the excellent editing work by José Salcedo.
The central theme of the script is the first gay marriage in Madrid, Spain. Through a collective ceremony, thirty gay couples intend to make their relationships official. The six protagonist boys, who represent the three couples that surround the adventures of the plot, experience all the delights and bitterness of being what they are: the inevitable jokes, the vocatives that range from "faggot" and "faggot" to even the questions from the like "how do you know if you're gay if you've never had sex like a woman" and other absurdities evoked by some supporting actors that provoke weak laughter.
Illuminating the mothers' angle in the story, we have the following "queens": Magda (Carmem Maura) is the tycoon, runs a chain of hotels with her husband and has an affair with the chef at the hotel she manages. Rich, she has never been so present in the life of Miguel (Unax Ugalde), who is Óscar's boyfriend (the beautiful Daniel Hendler). Helena (Betiana Blum), Óscar's mother, came from Argentina and arrives for the wedding with the intention of staying for good. The cook brings the dog Marilena as a companion, causing problems in the house and in the relationship between Miguel and Óscar.
Reys (Marisa Paredes) is the movie star and mother of the plot and Ofélia (Veronica Forque), a historian, nymphomaniac, has a desire to have sexual relationships with prohibited people and places. Each one is worked on in a very peculiar way: between the liberal attitude, going through the one that doesn't understand anything, even the prejudiced one.
The film was directed by the competent Miguel Gomez Pereira, who also wrote the script with Joaquin Oristrell. The art direction, signed by Carlos Conti and the photography by Juan Amorós, both competent, collaborate with the unfolding of the story, which also plays with metalanguage in several passages: the character of Marisa Paredes is an actress who has worked with Pedro Almodóvar; in Hugo's room, there is a poster for Ocean's Twelve, a successful sequel that speaks to his gay status by including the word "secret" in the title; the tycoon played by Carmem Maura, in an excellent performance, argues with one of the employees, who is her lover, and tells him that she only works and has no time for anything, not even going to the cinema. She claims that the last time she went, Robert Redford was still young; One of the queens even ends up having an affair with the gardener, making her story reminiscent of the canonical Lady Chaterley's Lover, written by DH Lawrence in 1928.
Other technical aspects are also important to make the narrative structure of Rainhas a considerable film: there are many flashbacks, but well constructed, they do not confuse the viewer. With small stories, all transformed into just one at the end, the film still has space for the dog Marilena, a character as present as the humans in the film.
Entering the scope of sociological criticism, which analyzes the film according to the moment of production and release, Rainhas was broadcast at a unique moment for the gay community in Spain where debates and research on the subject were already moving local politics.
Even though at times it exposes clichés about the "frills" of some homosexuals, Rainhas manages to make people laugh without being offensive, avoiding the stereotypical pattern of some disposable comedies in the Hollywood circle. At 105 minutes long, Rainha is an above-average comedy and deserves to be seen by everyone, including your mother, whether you are out or not. The hottest images in the film involve small kisses and caresses between gay men, as well as one more in the scene where one of the couples is in bed exchanging affection and the mother of one of them arrives at the scene. Furthermore, a harmless film. Highlight is the delicious version of Fever, also a classic song on the GLS dance floor, written by Elvis Presley, also performed by Madonna in the 90s, and this time, in the mesmerizing voice of the competent Canadian singer Michel Bublé.
*Leonardo Campos writes biweekly in this space about cinema and DVD releases. He is a researcher in cinema, literature and culture at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and professor of literature.
