The Story:
During the Spanish Civil War, young Ramallo, Tur, and the tagalong girl, Francesca, witness horrible atrocities including the loss of parents. This leads to Ramallo doing something horrific to another child while Tur and Francesca look on in horror. But his two friends (both of whom have childhood crushes on him) help him cover up the nasty deed.

Flash ahead to at least a decade later. Ramallo, now in his early 20s, comes to a sanatorium for those suffering from tuberculosis. To his surprise, his old friend Tur is already there, sick as well, and even Francesca is around, working as a nun. Now, it is Ramallo who has a thing for Francesca, who brushes off his advances. Tur is deeply in love with Ramallo, but fights his urges through an obsessive and chaste devotion to God and Jesus—in hopes of ridding himself of the curse of homosexuality. Meanwhile, although he may not be gay, Ramallo has had his taste of gay sex. He has been a drug runner and prostitute for an older man who visits him frequently at the sanatorium hoping to get more sex from him. Based on his terrible childhood act and his experiences whoring his body as a young adult, he is incredibly sadistic, yet still struggling to find love and understanding from his two childhood friends and escape the world that waits for him if he becomes well enough to leave the sanatorium. I guess you have to have the right taste buds for this type of movie. I'm sure it's powerful, poetic, and beautifully filmed, but it is just too much of a downer for me. It has won various awards, but that doesn't sweeten the pot for me at all—let's just say I more often than not totally avoid the Oscar-winning film of the year. I'm also not a fan of dramatic movies with swelling scores that look at the human condition during wartime. I began twitching in my movie theater seat after only the first 10 minutes of Legends of the Fall, and to this day, don't know how I made it through the entire film even once. NOT my idea of time well spent—I think my tastes are just a little too hokey for that stuff. But, if you are gay and love straight movies like that, then I guess you'll probably really feel this gay one. However, even the gay storyline didn't help me any. Websites that sell gay DVDs are going to hype the blatant "homoerotic" aspects of this movie, but honestly, there's nothing pleasant about it. There are clear messages of self-loathing due to religion, and the only homosexual interaction is violent and vile, leading to the usual tragic ending for those who give into the desire. Enough already! I've heard and scene that pitiful existence a million times. And as far as any male nudity in this film, it usually concerns a naked guy in a shower puking up blood due to his TB. Yeah, this is definitely not a boat floater for a gay audience, and it's also not a positive outlook on homosexuality for a straight audience.

The DVD

Video:
This is one nice 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. There's a bit of haloing and softness as a result of some edge enhancement, but overall, this is a cinematic experience. The light/dark contrasts are excellent and bring gorgeous depth to the film. Color levels are right on and flesh tones quite natural. There are only hints of dust on the print. There is also some layering hiccups about 23 minutes in and 64 minutes in, but both are during scene changes and not too distracting.

Sound:
This disc delivers on sound. The options are for 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround. The surround separation is subtle, and used mostly for realistic ambience, giving excellent dimension to the onscreen image. The dramatic orchestral score offers deep swelling bass and a wall of surround sound.

Extras:
This is pretty straightforward. You can choose between English or Spanish subtitles. There are 23 chapter breaks for scene selection, and 6 previews of other Picture This! releases. They seem to get recycled a lot, because these are pretty much all the same previews I've witnessed on other Picture This! DVDs I've reviewed. Actually, they are pretty much previews for all the other MOVIES I've reviewed by this company.

Final Thoughts:
El Mar is for lovers of tragic, critically praised award winning movies. This one is about how war affects the human condition on a psychological level. It is a depressing character study that throws gay themes into the mix, and the outcome is just not a positive one for gay audiences. This is a violent and disturbing movie.