“ABSENT”— Sexually Tense

Amos ♦ July 4, 2012 ♦ Leave Your Comment

“Absent” (“Ausente”)

Sexually Tense

Amos Lassen

Martin (Javier de Pietro) is a young student who lusts after his athletic coach, Sebastian (Carlos Echevarria) and he goes so far as to go too far one evening. Sebastian tries to maintain a distance from Martin but he also wants to be kind to the boy. Martin seems to know no borders and when the line is crossed…

One must be prepared for the sexual tension in this film and it is amazing to watch this film with others because the silence is unbelievable. We sit and wait and wait and watch and watch and even though we can suspect what is going to happen, we still wait to see it as if this were a thriller.

Martin fakes an eye injury in class so that he can get Sebastian alone as they go to the hospital. He has already got his lies all planned as to why he cannot go home afterwards and manages to get Sebastian to invite him to spend the night at his house. The next day Sebastian learns that Martin’s parents spent the whole night looking for their son. Neither Martin nor Sebastian were able to sleep well and then Sebastian finds a note from Martin apologizing for making up stories about why he could not go home. When Sebastian confronts Martin, he learns that Martin had hoped that something would happen between the two of them and this angers Sebastian so that he hits the boy and things change. Sebastian begins to lose the ability to think about anything except what happened. Martin stops going to swimming class and a gulf develops between the two. Martin is then killed in an accident and Sebastian is left to deal with his feelings. He begins to see that he had possibly sent out wrong signals and so he begins introspection and thinks about how he really felt about Martin. Sebastian feels guilty and hopes that Martin will forgive him for what he did.

There is great beauty in the film and the night that the two were at Sebastian’s home is amazing to watch. The sexual tension is very thick and we sit in anticipation of what will or will not happen. This could have been melodramatic to the nth degree but it is not. The entire film is subtle and the end is pure beauty. The acting is superb as is the cinematography and this is very sexy drama of repressed passion, guilt and regret. It is fascinating to watch the character develop as each unfolds retreats and then unfolds again.

Marco Berger who gave us “Plan B” both wrote and directed this film and it is amazing. It is a beautiful, gentle, very understated and subtle story. Martin is considerate and respectful, and although he manipulates situations in an attempt to get closer Sebastian, he never threatens and never behaves any more irresponsibly than any other teenage boy would—he is simply lost in a world of lust. Most of us have had some kind of experience like this so we know. Not much even happens–Martin tricks Sebastian into letting him stay a night in his apartment, and there is dramatic erotic tension during that night as the boy longs for something to happen. This is a movie of feelings about a deep, strong attraction. There is no action here and I think that is what makes this film so special.