Isaac
Ezban’s The
Similars
(Los
Parecidos)
hit me like an electric cattle prod to the pineal gland. I was
impressed, and eager for more, but not right away. Too much of this
stuff can warp you, and I have a straight job that requires me to be
somewhat socially acceptable. I waited awhile, found Cosas Feas
on
YouTube, (it’s also on Vimeo) then when I felt like I could use a
proper jolt, I gave it a watch.
Before
the beginning, there a listing of a lot of awards it won and
festivals it was selected for. It has quite a reputation. In a few
years, people will start calling it a classic.
The
title, Cosas
Feas,
is officially translated to Nasty
Stuff,
though it literally means, “ugly things,” and in the twisted
tradition of Spanish profanity, is used like “pieces of shit.”
All
fair warning. Do not see Cosas
Feas
if
your sensibilities or constitutions are delicate. It gets nasty, and
ugly, mostly shot through a fish-eye lens.
It’s
the story of 11 year-old Kriko Krankinsky. His first sex education
class forces a crisis that ends up revealing not only his
sexuality, but just what kind of immigrants he and his family are.
Their legal status is never mentioned, but they sure are alien.
Yeah,
aliens. We’re talking stark, raving sci-fi, with a bad attitude with
fake scratches to make it like an ancient flick on TV, way after
midnight. It also recreates the effects such movies had on the
preadolescent mind of this old, jaded guy who’s been binging on
such madness for over half a century.
Cosas Feas uses scenes from the capitalist propaganda cartoon Destination
Earth,
and the adolescent angst exploitation classic Teenagers
From Outer Space.
And
I probably should mention that it has one on the most outrageous
explicit sex scenes ever.
Ezban
could do a great version of William S. Burroughs’ Naked
Lunch.
He has a real feeling for sexual anxiety, and insects. Move over Luis
Buñuel, John Waters, Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch, Terry
Gilliam, Guillermo Del Toro . . .
There’s
also the fear of immigrants, so popular on this side of the
border these days (but I don’t think we’ll be seeing a special
showing at the White House, and/or an enthusiastic tweet from El
Presidente).
Cosas
Feas
is
also very Mexican. There’s a gonzo/ Felliniesque distorted realism,
but also a peculiar humanity. Characters that are alien in how they
act and look come off as sympathetic.
After all,
the real aliens come from inside us, rather than outer space.
Ernest Hogan will be at Phoenix Comic Fest, May 24-26, helping his wife
Emily Devenport publicize her new book Medusa Uploaded,
as well has his own activities.
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