Starcrossed – Love vs. Destiny It is a portrait of the difficulties in maintaining an acceptable relationship. The protagonists are two brothers who discover themselves in love. In Professor Godoy, a tense teacher-student relationship, which began in the first days of class, promises something very intriguing by the end of the school year.
Starcrossed – Love Against Destiny is a short film directed by James Burkahammer II. For those who find the film a copy of the irregular From beginning to end, by Aluísio Abranches, a big mistake. Starcrossed came first. In the plot, the same theme of incestuous love (two brothers): Darren and Cotton are beautiful and attractive young people who fall in love and intend to live an intense love story. The parents find out everything and decide to separate them. Darren, the strongest link, is an inspiration for Cotton, a delicate link in the relationship, who attracts his brother's attention by kissing him in a moment of emotional fragility.
The short suffers from some technical and performance problems, which harm the narrative. It's a very short space of time for so many problems. First, the controversial topic does not have enough time to digest the idea. Two brothers who have a loving relationship requires a more detailed approach. The scene in which the mother catches the two brothers naked, asleep and hugging each other in bed is too fragile for the expected impact. The lines are obvious and do not reach the boldness intended by the argument. If the problems ended there, everything 
well: when running away from their parents, the young people go to a hotel, aiming to spend the night. The police are called, and the boys opt for the most tragic option: suicide in the hotel pool. The arrival of the police officer, approaching the room as if he had gone in search of two criminals, is pathetic.
The more thought-provoking of the two is Professor Godoy. The short film introduces us to a middle-aged, homosexual man, a mathematics teacher, who tensely resists the bold notes and insinuations from one of his students. Directed by Gui Ashcar, the short presents an intriguing game of seduction: with each student's corrected test, Professor Godoy finds an equation related to the two, created by the boy. Without resorting to sentimentality and excess, Professor Godoy makes very good use of its few minutes of duration, even proving that he has a sufficient argument for a feature-length film production.
Shorts available on YouTube. Not released on the DVD and Cinema market.
* Leonardo Campos writes every fortnight 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.
