DON'T TELL ANYONE (No se lo Digas a Nadie) Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalAn understanding of the macho culture which underpins Peruvian society is a prerequisite for viewers of Francisco J. Lombardi's DON'T TELL ANYONE, an apparently sanitized version of the bestselling book by chat show host Jaime Bayly. Hot young TV star Santiago Magill (one of the most beautiful actors in the world) plays a deeply conflicted individual who finds himself attracted to other men, a situation which places him at odds with the macho prejudice and god-fearing hypocrisy of his affluent, middle-class parents. Struggling to conform, he encourages the devotions of a sympathetic girlfriend (Lucía Jiménez) who believes she can make him 'normal' again. Inevitably, Magill goes off the rails and forfeits his education before descending into coke-fuelled abandon and fleeing to Miami. Unable to escape his past, he's forced to compromise the very essence of his humanity...Lombardi's cheerless film shakes an angry fist at the influence of religious doctrine in Peru (revealed here as a sham) and the racism suffered by the country's native Indian population, an anger shared by the movie's central character, who rails against the very same bigotry and oppression which stifles his freedom at every turn. His slide into rebellion makes for uncomfortable viewing (Magill gives a powerhouse performance as the delicate, pretty-boy waif who gravitates toward anarchy and emerges a strong - though embittered - survivor), but it's also faintly predictable, given the terrible circumstances under which he is forced to exist. Magill is pleasingly nude in a number of scenes, though gay viewers may be alarmed by the emphasis placed on his relationship with Jiménez, who thinks he's merely suffering a 'trauma' and can be cured by having sex with a woman (it's no surprise to learn that director Lombardi is straight), while his relationships with men are depicted as fragile and fleeting, primarily because his male partners are under the same societal pressures as himself. Unable to indulge his true sexuality, Magill's character seems doomed to a life of unhappiness and deceit, an approach which distinguishes the film from its feel-good American counterparts. Technical credits are polished, and the cast is exemplary, but it's hard to enjoy this bleak little movie, and even harder to dismiss it.(Spanish dialogue)

I didn´t like this movie, because of the malicious intention of a reaction in the public, based in a cheap exploitation of homosexualism. Using great actors, with the excuse that an actor has to do whatever the screenplay says, and doing scenes that went against they will, only for the pleasure of the director.Maybe the producer and director wanted to scandal the audience using unnecessary scenes, that didn´t contribute to the plot. On the other hand, the deletion of those graphic scenes, would have made a great movie, because the intention of the book writer, was to show the subtext behind homosexual behavior, not the behavior itself.P.S. I use to watch Jaime Baily´s TV show every night, and once a caller asked him if he was gay, and he responded no. When he wrote the book, he also said that was not an autobiography. So, I don´t know why a commenter said the opposite. The answers are in the recorded video tapes of his show.

It's a shame this movie, showcased at the February 1999 Miami Film Festival to a sold out crowd of almost 2,000, has not been distributed outside its home territory of Peru. To North Americans and Europeans, it is only another coming out story, but for Latin America, it's a break out film, based on a break out novel (Read it. Its ending is not compromised for commercial reasons as the film's ending is.)

Recently shown at the official Swedish Film Festival in Gothenburg (99/02). I hope this movie reaches a wider audience all over Europe. An honest and sincere story about the sometimes painful "coming-out" process. Although quite graphic at some points the story includes both comic relief, sappy moments, great writing and as a bonus a great soundtrack. Fredrik Olsson 99-02-08