Review of Broken Sky

Introduction

When I received this disc and looked at the synopsis, I can`t say that I jumped for joy. My expectations were further lowered when I put the disc in my DVD player and was confronted with a menu that resembled something someone had done with a DVD-writer and then, after selecting "8:12PM ( 2H20M) L1", the screen went black for 5 seconds before colour bars appeared with a loud high-pitched whining. I thought the disc was faulty, so watched another couple of DVDs then gave `Broken Sky` another go. After scanning for over thirty seconds, the colour bars disappeared and the opening credits started, followed by a quote from the film `Hiroshima mon Amour`:
"And a time will come. When we`ll no more know what thing it is that binds us. By slow degrees the word will fade from our memory. Then, it will disappear altogether."

The next two hours and eighteen minutes are concerned with the relationship between Gerardo (Miguel Ángel Hoppe) and Jonas (Fernando Arroyo), which is threatened by the appearance of Sergio (Alejandro Rojo).

Video

Again, a brand new DVD release with a letterboxed transfer. The transfer is fairly sharp, but the fact that it is letterboxed is unforgivable. It is clear that Julián Hernández loves long, sweeping camera shots and fills `Broken Sky` with endless panoramic shots that quickly become very tiresome.

Audio

A clear Spanish stereo soundtrack with burned-in English subtitles; there is virtually no dialogue in the film, so the subtitles are predominantly used to translate the song lyrics. There are a few errors in the subtitles.

Features

On a home-made DVD - are you kidding?

Conclusion

When it comes to art house gay films, as Austin Powers would say, "This sort of thing ain`t my bag, baby", so sitting through 140 minutes of pretentious tedium was an ordeal. Had someone walked into my room and slapped a coat of Dulux on the wall, that would have immediately seized my attention, as the drying paint would have proved far more interesting than `Broken Sky`.

It`s not that the film is about two men trying to sort out their relationship, if the film concerned two women and a man, two men and a woman, or three women, it still would have been boring. Julián Hernández probably thought he made something fascinating and profound when the film is really a dull and pretentious effort. The characters don`t speak to one another. There is a scene when Jonas briefly speaks to a woman, perhaps his sister, but for the entirety of the film they just exchange lingering glances and stares, shrug off advances and look at each other. Every so often the screen will fade to white or black and a narrator will say something like:
"Their bodies are in the same place. Wrapped up in themselves. Sleep always comes first to Jonas, he sleeps well as the night makes him forget the life that he is leading with Gerardo and that he wants to abandon." Yawn.

Maybe you have to be into gay Mexican cinema to fully appreciate `Broken Sky`, but as I`m not, I couldn`t wait for it to end.