An engaging and amusing story about a 12-year-old boy who lives in Manila likes to dress as a girl and develops a crush on the cop who’s trying to bring down his family of criminals. Winner of ten awards so far at various festivals around the world, The Blossoming… doesn’t quite deserve the critical acclaim it’s garnered, but in the crowded genre of gay coming of age movies, this is a good entry, notable for the enthusiasm of everyone involved and the exotic setting. Not quite City of God meets Ma Vie en Rose (thankfully), the grimy life of bootleg DVDs, drugs and muggings that his father and older brothers make their lives from provides a unique contrast to the colourful clothes and accessories Maximo wears both in public and in recreations of Miss World contests with his friends.
Subtle back-story is included by the briefest of knowing exchanges with his peers and the way his family accepts his behaviour probably has a lot to do with the aptitude in which he fills the role of their absent mother – cleaning, cooking and darning. Nathan Lopez is amazing as the lead and the increasing vitality of the actors and the film-making prowess as the film progresses suggest that the movie was shot sequentially with everyone’s confidence increasing as the film progresses. The re-emergence of violence (suggested by their environs but always firmly off camera) is a shock to the viewer as is the Dirty Harry style death of one of the main characters. This suggests a tragedy is in the offing and so the surprise volte-face regarding the family life at the end is welcome for people who like a happy ending but seems somewhat unprecedented as if there was a scene missing towards the end. If this feels like the film-makers didn’t know how to end the movie, the final shot seems even more desperate with a near perfect recreation of the last shot of The Third Man! Sure, both films are about impossible love in a city full of criminals and racketeers where even the police are corrupt, but it seems too incongruous given what’s gone before…
So, well worth a watch for anyone interested in new talents in world cinema, it’s just a shame they didn’t have a decent ending!

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