Whatever voyeuristic discomfort a grown man expects
to experience with the subject of pubescent boys “coming of age” is quickly
dissipated by this 2014 Brazilian charmer. Writer/director Daniel Ribeiro deftly
delivers a big romance within a smallish movie, disarmingly free of any obvious agenda - we don't even get to find out whether or not first love lasts. Decidedly purged of Americanized LGBTism
and its attendant pretense and posturing, “The Way He Looks” is thematically
Old Hollywood: part “Enchanted Cottage”, part “Ugly Duckling”.
You see, Leo (as unforgettably played by Guilherme Lobo), is
blind. His disability is compounded by over-protective parents who curb his
desires for independence at every turn. Physically awkward, he’s looked after
by school gal-pal Giovana, who soon will be replaced by The New Boy In School,
Gabriel. Just about the right amount of teen angst ensues, as clumsy non-starting
heterosexuality is replaced by a surer homosexuality. Latin sensibility (and
Latin sensuality) easily dispense with “the blindness problem”: Leo can’t look at his beloved, but he sure can similarly
experience him by sense of smell. Free of sighted self-consciousness, Leo
can treat Gabriel to an extended perusal of his rump in the shower to nobody’s
embarrassment: the camera pointedly reminds the rest of us that he’s to be
desired and not pitied. Perhaps he’s also admirably blessed: he knows as proven
fact that looks have nothing to do with the homosexual matrix, or love for that
matter.
As an unapologetic homage to the transformative power of
love, “The Way He Looks” is on sure footing from beginning to end. Director
Ribeiro refuses the viewer predictable distractions like the grubbiness of
guilt and shame, gratuitous violence and messages about “real” homosexuality. As a movie experience, it’s a deeply
satisfying emotional manipulation. We just know these guys are going to be
okay, and maybe our take-away is that we’re going to be okay too.
