Repressed Sexuality Leads to a Crime Spree in El Angel 

Based on a true story of a baby-faced killer in 1971 Argentina comes El Angel, a new film from director Luis Ortega and executive producer Pedro Almodovar.

Carlitos, played by Lorenzo Ferro, is a 17 year old with a supportive upbringing and movie star swagger who finds his true calling as a thief. Partnering with Ramon (Chino Darin), the two begin their crime spree that leads from thrill to celebrity to demise.

This clip features a sensual moment between Carlitos and Ramon in the midst of a break-in as Carlitos tries on a pair of earrings and Ramon says he looks like Marilyn Monroe.

The Advocate spoke to Lorenzo Ferro about the sexuality beneath the surface of the film.

The Advocate: Your character has unexpressed homosexual tension with your partner in crime. How does this film link crime and queerness?
Ferro: Yes there is a sexual tension as well as admiration. It's like a mix of how you admire an older brother and when you like someone romantically. It's a tension that's hard to categorize. It seems to me that the point of connection between crime and this tension that you're referring to is love and admiration. Later this admiration, for Carlitos, begins to degrade and fade as he realizes Ramon's goals, which are the same as most people's, to be rich and famous.

People are calling this film a "gay Bonnie & Clyde" - do you see it as that?
I like that it's being compared to Bonnie & Clyde because it's a film and case that we looked at as a reference from Day 1. But I don't see it as a Gay Bonnie & Clyde, I see it more as a modern Bonnie & Clyde.

Would your character relate more with Bonnie or Clyde?
I think Carlitos is more like Bonnie aesthetically and physically. Also because Carlitos has a feminine side that is coming to light and he can easily feel like Marilyn Monroe, Bonnie or Evita Peron. Ramon is a more basic man. He looks like a typical guy of that period.

This film is a period piece, but what does it say about queer people in society today?
I think it's a film that doesn't try to explain anything so it doesn't get bogged down in something that doesn't have an explanation. Love for any person doesn't have an explanation. The feeling is always more important than the explanation of the feeling.

El Angel is now playing in New York and Los Angeles.