May 14, 2026
FILM: THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO
DIRECTED BY: DIEGO CESPEDES
STARRING: TAMARA CORTES, MATIAS CATALAN, PAULA DINAMARCA
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The setting is Northern Chile in 1982. A young girl named Lidia lives in a “canteen” with several women, who are referred to as “transvestites.” (This is well before the term “transgender” was commonly used.) The family includes her mother Flamenco who is said to have such power in her eyes that she gives men “the plague.” Given the year, and Flamenco’s own health issues, it’s clear that what is being referred to is AIDS. What’s interesting is how the women live together and how they relate to the local miners in the small desert village where they reside. The whole scenario requires the women to be strong fighters while also being “guarded” by some of the older, retired working men. The set-up is pretty non-traditional and surprising for 1982 but director Diego Cespedes makes it all feel very believable, progressive, yet also at times quite tragic.
While there are plenty of young boys and men who demonstrate “machismo” in the setting this is a pretty enlightened community. How the women got together and how the older men discovered them is never revealed. The belief is that Flamenco (and presumably the others) have that special power to draw men to them. When they have a Miss Alaska (Why Alaska in Chile is not clear…) pageant, featuring the women lip syncing emotional songs, some of the local men attend, including a former lover of Flamenco’s whose reason for being there is initially not known. A tragic event occurs and the community must pull itself together, which they do surprisingly well, but then again they have taught themselves to be tough! Even when they play what appears to be a potentially dangerous blindfolded sexual game with the men, there is still a sense that they have the upper hand.
Of course, the characters are not aware that by 1982, AIDS was spreading like wildfire throughout the gay community. As such, many of them are infected, resulting in an even greater need for support within the group’s ranks.
All of this leaves young Lidia as a bit of an outside observer to what is happening within her home and village. She spends some of her time on a motorbike with her boyfriend Julio but what she is growing up with is a lot of love, including a very ahead of its time male/trans wedding, and an education on how to fight the enemy.
Because of the desert setting the film at times feels like an American western full of fighting, wide open landscapes, and some basic blue collar values that stand in contrast to the progressiveness in Lidia’s home. In that sense the film offers an original take on how some gay men and cross dressers lived decades ago. There is a bleakness within the film as if we are in constant anticipation that something awful is about to happen. However, there also exists a sense of optimism that non-traditional families can live and survive together. And, of course, gay men exist everywhere in any time period. The same is true with people who would consider themselves transgender today. As such, this is an original look at the community within a very specific period in our recent history.
Chile selected The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo as its submission for the Best International Film Oscar last year. It played at the Chicago International Film Festival in October. It will be streaming on MUBI beginning tomorrow and also available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime.
FILM: THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO
DIRECTED BY: DIEGO CESPEDES
STARRING: TAMARA CORTES, MATIAS CATALAN, PAULA DINAMARCA
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The setting is Northern Chile in 1982. A young girl named Lidia lives in a “canteen” with several women, who are referred to as “transvestites.” (This is well before the term “transgender” was commonly used.) The family includes her mother Flamenco who is said to have such power in her eyes that she gives men “the plague.” Given the year, and Flamenco’s own health issues, it’s clear that what is being referred to is AIDS. What’s interesting is how the women live together and how they relate to the local miners in the small desert village where they reside. The whole scenario requires the women to be strong fighters while also being “guarded” by some of the older, retired working men. The set-up is pretty non-traditional and surprising for 1982 but director Diego Cespedes makes it all feel very believable, progressive, yet also at times quite tragic.
While there are plenty of young boys and men who demonstrate “machismo” in the setting this is a pretty enlightened community. How the women got together and how the older men discovered them is never revealed. The belief is that Flamenco (and presumably the others) have that special power to draw men to them. When they have a Miss Alaska (Why Alaska in Chile is not clear…) pageant, featuring the women lip syncing emotional songs, some of the local men attend, including a former lover of Flamenco’s whose reason for being there is initially not known. A tragic event occurs and the community must pull itself together, which they do surprisingly well, but then again they have taught themselves to be tough! Even when they play what appears to be a potentially dangerous blindfolded sexual game with the men, there is still a sense that they have the upper hand.
Of course, the characters are not aware that by 1982, AIDS was spreading like wildfire throughout the gay community. As such, many of them are infected, resulting in an even greater need for support within the group’s ranks.
All of this leaves young Lidia as a bit of an outside observer to what is happening within her home and village. She spends some of her time on a motorbike with her boyfriend Julio but what she is growing up with is a lot of love, including a very ahead of its time male/trans wedding, and an education on how to fight the enemy.
Because of the desert setting the film at times feels like an American western full of fighting, wide open landscapes, and some basic blue collar values that stand in contrast to the progressiveness in Lidia’s home. In that sense the film offers an original take on how some gay men and cross dressers lived decades ago. There is a bleakness within the film as if we are in constant anticipation that something awful is about to happen. However, there also exists a sense of optimism that non-traditional families can live and survive together. And, of course, gay men exist everywhere in any time period. The same is true with people who would consider themselves transgender today. As such, this is an original look at the community within a very specific period in our recent history.
Chile selected The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo as its submission for the Best International Film Oscar last year. It played at the Chicago International Film Festival in October. It will be streaming on MUBI beginning tomorrow and also available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime.