See below to win this film
Sporting the title My Last Round this film could have been about a dying Englishman’s last trip to his local pub. Instead it is a Chilean film directed by Julio Jorquera Arriagadam focusing on a fading boxer named Octavio. With the Chilean football team showing Spain how to play football this week it is an ideal time to release a film about another Chilean sport.
My Last Round is set in a sporting environment a long way from the over-paid, overseas-dwelling superstars of the World Cup. They might all be from the same country, but this is another side of Chile, where paint peels off the walls and boxers work as hairdressers during the day.
From the start Octavio, played by Roberto Farias is suffering epileptic fits and though we see him in the ring, his boxing career is in doubt. He falls for the younger Hugo (Hector Morales) with whom he starts living. Hugo is more uncertain, about Octavio and about his own sexuality.
The gay thread is only a small part of the narrative, which only towards the end erupts into homophobia. Before then the film is languid and elliptical. Many important things in the plot happen off screen, leaving the actors to explain they were sacked, or the viewer to realise that they must have moved in together, or moved to the big city. Nothing is made clear, not even the names of the protagonists.
Shot through with subdued colours and low-key incidents this is not about gay relationships, but relationships in general and how they are at risk from other people, work and ambition. There are some nicely framed images, though a lot of following actors around, their backs filling too much of the screen. Languid, My Last Round is almost a gentle boxing drama, concentrating more on relationships than the sport. Temperamentally downbeat, yet visually attractive Arriagadama shows details unnecessary to the story that help fill out the characters’ relationships. He has created an honest look at the complications of two lives.
Hugo and Octavio may be gay and spend a lot of time in a Chilean boxing club – statistically likely to be different to most viewers’ experiences – but the film makes clear the universality of their lives. The dangers of jealousy and the time spent doing chores. The washing of clothes, making of beds, and punching of other people for fun. OK, maybe not the last one’s not so universal. One of the oddest similarities – although this probably only applies for British viewers – is that Hector Morales looks a lot like Ed Miliband. This can be disconcerting, but doesn’t take away from a well-acted tale that is of more relevance than a glance at the DVD sleeve might suggest.
Win this film!
The Flaneur has three copies of this newly released DVD to give away. To enter you have to be over 15 years old.
To have a chance of winning either:
Follow @FlaneurZine on Twitter and tweet:
RT and follow @flaneurzine for a chance to #win My Last Round on DVD thanks to @peccapics #freebiefriday Details https://flaneur.me.uk/06/my-last-round-a-chilean-boxing-film-with-a-star-who-looks-like-ed-miliband
or
Sign up for our weekly newsletter on the front page of The Flaneur and then just send an email to comps@flaneur.me.uk with My Last Round in the title.
The competition ends at midnight on June 25th after which we will choose the winner. You must be over 15 to enter.
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