Too much of everything

Simply Perfect

Perfect cast and a good story

best movie i've ever seen.

I began watching this little known film only because of its gay love story, not expecting it to be anything remarkable. It is not, but I was quite surprised to find a decently good story with a handful of talented young debuting actors that made a great impression on me and left me rooting for the two main characters. Being shot in a semi-documentary style and entirely on location, it gives the story a feel of authenticity, and the youngsters are so natural before the camera, so Spanish-teenage in the way they speak, joke, horseplay, swear, talk dirty and quarrel that it took me back to my own teenage years. The only fault that I find is that the two main characters are supposed to be 14-16 years old, but it is pretty obvious that the actors are at least 18-19 and that can't fool anyone, come on. The age of consent in Spain currently is 14 years both for straight and gay sex, but it looks like the filmmaker was afraid of stepping over the PC-crap line or something had he used actors of that age. There is no sex scenes at all in this film, only a few harmless kiss shots. In the 1964 French film "Les Amities Particulieres" (This Special Friendship), a 17-18 year-old boarding school senior pupil falls in love with a cherubic 12-year-old junior. And Didier Haudepin was only 13 when he made the film. We are moving backwards.

At first I'm gonna tell you how i found this movie. i am a EX- Muslim by the way. i have a friend who lives in Germany. i always hated Muslim refugees so he told me that i should watch this movie. so i watched it. i really loved this movie, you don't have to be a gay to watch this kind of movie, i know the meaning of true friendship. who cares if they are boy and loved each other. you can find friendship,love and emotion on this movie, and suffering. i don't know how should i write review about this movie. its so sad that Homophobea is a disease and spreading around the world like a cancer.But it was more than that. Once upon a time i was homophobic person. I hated gays and lesbians more than i hate imaginary gods. I after realized that homosexuals are humans to People, if you don't like this types of movies then don't watch. But stop saying nonsense about this. I'm from Bangladesh, a country with so much ignorance and hate. But i came to light, it's time for you to come out too. I've lost my best friend, and i miss him a lot...

HIDDEN AWAY (originally "A escondidas" )--- I very rarely give a movie a 9 rating, in fact I think this is only the second time I have and this movie fully deserves it. Some may not like this movie because it has some gay over tones but if you just let that pass you will see that is not what its actually about. If you are looking for sex scenes you will be wasting your time with "Hidden Away." This movie is first and foremost a genuine coming of age gemstone. It concerns a displaced Moroccan youth, Ibra, who is on the run from a quasi legal extradition order from the Spanish government which is in a full end run around its own laws to remove Arabs from its borders. Ibra, who appears to be about 16 has blown into the town where a 14 year old Spanish citizen, Raffa, resides. Ibra takes shelter at a youth hostel but has also run into the wrong company of another Arab who is a drug dealer. Raffa apparently lives a comfortable life in his home and is a rising star in his youth water polo team. He whiles away his days with his closest friend, Guille, playing water polo, smoking weed and playing video games and is accepted by his wide circle. But not all is as it seems and Raffa is now at that age where everyone is trying to force him into relationships with girls, and though he does not completely understand why, he is highly stressed by this and not at all comfortable. One evening at a local youth dance Raffa and Ibra lock eyes and Raffa is immediately drawn to this new interest in his life. Raffa goes against the normal adolescent heterosexual grain of his peers and begins working at gaining Ibra's attention. The two are both introspective and Raffa spends more and more time becoming friends with Ibra, to the detriment of his best friend Guille. However Guille is a true friend and accepts that his friend is experiencing something intense and lets him be. Eventually Raffa and Ibra begin a typical process of "sparking" as they become closer friends and eventually Raffa's friends find out the relationship is too close for their liking and he is excluded and then the extradition warrant comes a calling and everything goes south. The two boys run for it together and Raffa's one true friend, Guille, meets them and admits he doesn't understand but sheds tears with his friend as he realizes they are leaving possibly forever and he accepts Ibra because Raffa does. The movie is poignant and brings up what it is like for a boy's first love even when he doesn't first understand it. The whole process is so much better than how I have described it and if you really want to see a very touching coming of age movie I highly recommend "Hiding Away." I have told some of the story here but in no way anything but a fraction of it and you will realize this when you watch it. And I have completely left out the ending so you can experience that for yourself. It alone will touch you deeply as well as the aftermath. --- Note: In the end credits you will see a message about the passing of Alex Angulo. He played the attendant at the youth hostel and was killed in a car accident in 2014 (Alex Angula born Alejandro Angulo León 1953 - 2014)

Original title for this Spanish gem is 'A escondidas'. Rafa is fourteen and hangs around with his mates – some of whom are less than mature. They are also very 'anti Arab' and display the usual teenage attitudes towards sex – being default heterosexual. He plays water polo in his spare time and then his path crosses with a strikingly good looking Moroccan boy called Ibrahim. Ibra as his friends call him lives in a hostel and has no-one back in his native home. The authorities though are falling over themselves to repatriate as many people as possible and do not always want the letter of the law getting in their way.With that as the backdrop Rafa has an immediate liking for this new kid and goes out of his way to get the attention of Ibra. He is though crossing more than one line by so doing but Rafa is a tryer and god knows we all love one of them – this is their story.This film is brilliantly acted with a script that gives life and clarity to a very real situation that most of us would never think we would be in. The music is excellent too I spotted the much under rated Fanfarlo in the mix but there is not a full listing on IMDb so I will keep an eye out for the other bands used here as they were all great.Yes this is essentially a gay themed drama but there is no bedroom antics – this is more about teen, first love under extreme circumstances and the friendship that such feelings can induce. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can highly recommend it to not just lovers of gay cinema but anyone who loves a ruddy good love story.