Indie erotica filmmaker Noel Alejandro delivers a stunning portrayal of the frailness and depth of human emotion in his new film, BELLO.
Failure is joy. At a time when the consequences of the long pandemic have started to manifest and disrupt our jobs, plans and dreams, BELLO is Noel Alejandro’s invitation for the audience to contemplate failure as an inexorable part of livelihood, encouraging us to soothe the bitterness of our existence and see missteps as key to reaching the joys of life.
In the film a series of unfortunate events make the protagonist Raul (Francisco Gabriel) feel like a failure. Through the unrelenting forces of fate he sees his luck reversed and once again tastes the nectar of life on his tongue.
For years Noel Alejandro has been confidently weaving the scope of human sensation and sex into captivating plots and aesthetics to create stunning films on the cusp of art and pornography. With BELLO the director delivers his take on the salvation arc with sex as the light at the end of the tunnel for Raul. The name of the movie, BELLO, invites the audience to reimagine sex not as a sinister act the haunts society but as a beautiful and natural act which holds inifite possibilities for connection.
What’s more, BELLO also offers some food for thought with its nonchalant inclusion of a woman as supporting actress: Carla Berrocal. Female presence in gay male erotica poses questions on the place of women in the genre as something more than comic relief (we all remember “Right in front of my salad!”) or ancillary to a straight-to-gay fantasy.
BELLO was filmed in Barcelona at the main residence of the producer, Luigi Esposito. Notably, it is Francisco Gabriel and Vinicius Coelho debut in the world of erotica, carrying on Noel’s tendency to cast new faces. Noel’s films are often in conversation with one another and BELLO is no exception to this, with the director hinting a connection with another film coming out next year.
BELLO 19 min, 2021, ES. Directed by Noel Alejandro @noelalejandrox Starring Francisco Gabriel @fran_ciscogabriel, Vinicius Coelho @viniqius and Carla Berrocal. @be_carla
Available on www.noelalejandro.com / CLICK HERE
Language: ES Subtitles: EN / DE / ES / FR / PT
Check out Noel’s previous features on Pineapple here.
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