''Absent'' () is a 2011

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

director Marco Berger. The film tackles the notion of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

of students, but director Marco Berger flips the dynamic. In this film, a young man wants to lure his teacher into a sexual relationship, rather than the other way round.

Synopsis

The story is told by Sebastián ( Carlos Echevarría), a high school sports coach who becomes the object of student and athlete Martín's (Javier De Pietro) affection. Sebastián tries to keep Martín at a distance, but at the same time, wants to be kind and nurturing. Martín goes to great lengths in his attempt to get closer to his coach. When Martín injures his eye during swimming, Sebastián initially takes him to the hospital; after treatment, Sebastián offers Martín a ride home. However, Martín was supposed to spend the night at a friend's house, so no one is expecting him to come home that night, thus he spends the night at Sebastián's house. Things come to a head when Sebastián realizes that he was being lied to, and punches Martín in the face. He is not angry from disgust or for being the object of Martín's desire, but rather because Martín's dishonesty could potentially cost the coach his job, or worse. Offended and feelings rejected, Martín taunts his teacher, telling him to call the police and suggesting it would cause greater problems. Later, Martín accidentally falls from a roof to his death after retrieving a neighbor's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and Sebastián finds himself filled with remorse.

Style

The director is vague on certain plot points; the last images, for example, portray Sebastián gently kissing Martín on the lips. It is not made clear whether this actually happened, is a memory, or only occurred in one of their imaginations. It is also unclear whether or not Martín accidentally fell to his death, or whether it was suicide, driven by his teacher's rejection. The viewer is kept contemplating if a romantic relationship had occurred, and if it did, if it is immoral in itself, regardless of age differences or one-sided pressure.

Reception

When the film won the "Teddy Award for Best Feature" by the Teddy Award Independent Jury at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

(Berlinale), the judging committee praised it as a film with "an original screenplay, an innovative aesthetic and a sophisticated approach, which creates dynamism. A unique combination of homoerotic desire, suspense and dramatic tension."Queerblog Italy: Cine gay: Teddy Award all'argentino Ausente di Marco Berger
During the Berlinale, The Hollywood Reporter published a review stating: "Despite its original twist on the tired pedophilia topic, ''Absent ''skirts the fringes of dull and would be commercially dismissable, were it not for the edgy mixing job and hyped-up soundtrack that together create a sense of artificial excitement. (...) The small cast is well-chosen and de Pietro, in his first film role, is a real discovery who opens up his character of Martin in ever surprising ways."

Cast

* Carlos Echevarría as Sebastián * Javier De Pietro as Martín *

Antonella Costa Antonella Costa (born 19 March 1980 in Rome, Italy) is an Argentine film and television actor, actress. She moved to Argentina with her parents at the age of four. She has worked in different countries, but primarily in cinema of Argentina, Arge ...

as Mariana * Rocío Pavón as Analía * Alejandro Barbero as Juan Pablo

Awards and nominations

*2011: The film won the Teddy Awards for "Best feature film" at the

*2011: The actor Javier De Pietro was nominated for "Best New Actor" for his role Martín in the film during the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Awards

References

External links

* {{Teddy Award for Best Film 2011 films 2010s Spanish-language films 2011 thriller films Argentine LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related sports drama films Films directed by Marco Berger 2011 LGBTQ-related films Gay-related films 2011 drama films 2010s Argentine films Argentine thriller films Argentine sports drama films Spanish-language sports drama films