Review of The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

For American viewers, this lovely, yet frequently rough, film from the Phillipines offers a glimpse of Phillipine culture in a coming of age, first crush film that is far better than a cursory plot synopsis would suggest.

Maxi, the title character, is a twelve year old boy whose mother has died.  This proudly effiminate boy takes on his mother's traditional duties of cooking, cleaning and mending for his grateful, accepting family of his father and two older brothers--who are professional thieves.  The moral voice in the movie is a young policeman who takes Maxi under his tutelage.  It is the complicated relationship between Maxi and the principled lawman that is the crux of the plot, but it is the acceptance of Maxi's feminine stereotype of his environment that is likely to have an impact upon gay viewers.

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is a film that will stay in your mind long after the screen fades to black.

Genre: Gay themed drama

Director: Auraeus Solito

Language: English subtitles

Availability:  DVD

99Gay-Men.us Rating: ****

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