Gay Porn Meets Self Portraiture In ‘Pornomelancholia’

Gay porn. We've all secretly wanted to do it, and lord knows we all love watching it. But like any other artistic pursuit, the life of an adult performer can be a lonely one. That's the main theme of Argentinian filmmaker Manuel Abramovich's beautiful new film, Pornomelancholia starring Lalo Santos. And from the trailer alone, the film looks fucking amazing... both literally and figuratively.

 

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A post shared by Manuel Abrąmović (@manuel.mov)

Santos, who is a gay adult performer and JustForFans performer in real life, plays a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the film, incorporating his own work experiences into the narrative and bringing us intimately into this famously 'intimate' profession. For the purposes of this piece, I'll put the character version of him in quotes to distinguish between the fictitious Santos and the actor.

 

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The movie opens with "Santos" working in a factory in Oaxaca, Mexico dreaming of a bigger life. Seeing an ad for a gay erotic film, "Santos" decides to respond, and the next thing he knows, he's stripping naked, showing his armpits, and giving his best "tough-guy-attitude" while flexing for the camera. The camera, I should note, is a man holding an iPhone and snapping some pics.

 

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A post shared by Lalo Oaxaca (@lalo.oaxaca)

Santos' dark, bushy mustache plays perfectly for the character he plays, as "Santos" is cast as famed Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in a porn spoof of the Mexican Revolution. But as excited as he was to make his breakout into the industry, "Santos" realizes that the work that goes into the art is sometimes less romantic than he imagined it.

As is the case with many adult performers today, "Santos" takes to Twitter to build up a large following of loyal and horny fans. At his core, though... even with all the success he experiences... "Santos" feels a profound sense of emptiness and loneliness. He shoots scene after scene, in costume after costume, and he still seems to just be going through the motions of life.

The real success of this film is decidedly the acting that Santos brings to the role. Yes, we get to see Santos do some super hot gay sex scenes, but the performance he delivers is an incredibly nuanced one, filled with moments of subtle humor, agony, love, and lust. It's often tough to break into mainstream acting after making a name for yourself in the world of porn; it's certainly been done by the likes of Ron Jeremy, Jeremy Hazzard, Jenna Jameson, and more, but the list is ultimately a small one comparatively. Pornomelancholia will hopefully be the clincher for Santos, and hopefully, he'll continue bringing his impressive acting skills to screens in the years to come.

 

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Pornomelancholia, which is a Spanish language film, is currently hitting the international film festival circuit and is slated to be shown next at Frameline in San Francisco on June 19th. Enjoy the trailer!

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