There’s a tenderness to Lucio Castro’s debut film, “End of the Century,” that feels too fragile to be sustained.
The idea of a brief romance with life-altering consequences is central to the very best of cinema.
And yet, even as cursory observations might project the shadow of a “Brief Encounter” or “Before Sunrise” on to Castro’s delicate romance, “End of the Century” is unabashedly its own thing – hazy and gentle, but still lacerating and ambiguous.
One in particular, a blond in a KISS t-shirt, catches his attention and there’s a frisson of a spark between the two, even separated by an entire street.
It’s not until later that Ocho works up the courage to invite the stranger up from the street.
