HAWAII by MARCO BERGER

Hawaii is a 2013 Spanish language gay romantic drama film by Argentine director Marco Berger. Set in rural Argentina, it tells the story of two young men from different social backgrounds coming to terms with their growing attraction for each other.

Directed by Marco Berger

Produced by Marco Berger

Pedro Irusta

Written by Marco Berger

Starring Manuel Vignau

Mateo Chiarino

Luz Palazón

Antonia De Michelis

Manuel Martínez Sobrado

Music by Pedro Irusta

Cinematography Tomás Pérez Silva

Edited by Marco Berger

Release date

April 13, 2013 (Buenos Aires Festival)

Cast

Manuel Vignau as Eugenio

Mateo Chiarino as Martín

Luz Palazón as the señora

Antonia De Michelis as the neighbor

Manuel Martínez Sobrado as Eugenio's brother

Plot

Martín (Mateo Chiarino), an orphan, arrives at his former hometown hoping to stay with his aunt after his grandmother had died. He finds out that his aunt had moved without leaving a forwarding address. With no place to stay and little money, he beds down behind the ruins of an abandoned building. He looks around for odd jobs and is eventually hired by the writer Eugenio (Manuel Vignau), a former childhood playmate. Martín does not want to admit that he is homeless, and lies to Eugenio that he is staying with his aunt. Eugenio eventually finds out about Martín's situation and convinces Martín to stay at his house for the summer.

At first Eugenio does not seemingly remember much about Martín, but little by little they start to recall their shared memories as children. Eugenio realizes his growing attraction to Martín but is reluctant to pursue it, as he does not want to seem to be taking advantage of Martín's current financial situation. He is also afraid that even if the soft-spoken Martín might reciprocate his feelings, it might only be because Martín feels indebted to him. Martín himself is attracted to Eugenio, but he does not know if Eugenio is gay. And given his impoverished background, he does not want to presume on Eugenio's kindness.

Nonetheless, Eugenio and Martín slowly grow closer together, and Eugenio finds it becoming increasingly difficult to hide his attraction. One day while moving some furniture, Eugenio accidentally knocks over some drawings of naked men from his desk. Martín sees the drawings, but Eugenio pointedly avoids talking about it. It dawns on Martín that Eugenio might be attracted to him. Martín confirms his suspicions when he sees Eugenio's flustered reaction after he deliberately strips in front of Eugenio one night with the excuse of doing laundry.

Martín kisses Eugenio the next morning, confident that Eugenio is also attracted to him. But Eugenio unexpectedly rebuffs him, and Martín leaves confused. That afternoon, Eugenio discovers that Martín had packed up and left. He searches for him for several days but is unable to find him. Eugenio remembers Martín reminiscing about "dos ananás" ("two pineapples"). He realizes that Martín was talking about a picture from a Hawaii reel that they used to look at on a View-Master as children. He looks for the reel and the old View-Master and leaves them behind the abandoned building that Martín used to stay at. A few days later, Martín comes back, carrying the View-Master with him. They smile at each other and kiss.