Carlos Calvo – the eternal carlin– did not have a very busy career on the big screen: he only worked on seven films. But one of them marked a before and after in national cinema: it is Goodbye, Robertthe first Argentine film that told the story of a love affair between two men.
The most prestigious critics have defined it as a “breakthrough” film, “well acted”, “ahead of its time”. And they were right: its gay theme made it avant-garde for an Argentina fresh out of the night of the last dictatorship.
Directed by Enrique Dawi, the film debuted on April 4, 1985, just over 37 years ago. Along with Calvo, the other protagonist was also a renowned heartthrob, Victor Laplace.
Democratic Spring
The plot was very simple, but difficult to digest in a country that was going through the first days of democratic openingwith Raul Alfonsin as president. Recently separated from his wife, with whom he had a son, Roberto Mazzitelli (Calvo) goes to live with Marcelo Estévez (Laplace).
Roberto doesn’t know that Marcelo is homosexual. They become friends. One night, after a date, and “drank”, they become intimate. From there, as the synopsis states, “Roberto has to face his feelings” and, even more difficult, “in the eyes of others”.
The cast was completed, among other figures, Ana Maria Picchio in the role of Marta, Roberto’s wife; Hector Alterio, as Roberto’s psychologist; Y Pablo Codevillawho plays Luisito, Roberto’s friend.
To compose Robert, Carlín wore red petticoats.
Furthermore, without actually saying “fumá, pendex”, he already had some of the gestures that we would see a few years later in Friends are friendsthe cycle in which he starred with Pablo Rago in Phone
politically incorrect
“Tell me what, are you crazy? What the hell is wrong with you? Haven’t you seen the assholes walking down the street? How are you going to nail a troll?”says Luisito (Codevilla) to Roberto, in one of the first scenes of the film.
And Roberto replies: “If you say it that way, it sounds awful.”
Then, Luisito gets angry. “How do you want me to say that? Is he a troll or not a troll?
Luisito and Roberto share a table in a “neighborhood” bar, more precisely “in Floresta”. Behind them, patrons are playing billiards.
In addition to being politically incorrect, there are many sections that would be considered naïve today.
In another scene, Roberto’s father (Onofrio Lovero) scolds his wayward son: “Where the hell did your mom and I go wrong? You are the disgrace of the family! How could it happen to us, who live in this Western and Christian country, that we don’t have strange things on our minds, like the Europeans or the Yankees, who are all degenerates?
After the sermon he boxed him up, like Carlos Monzón boxed up Nino Benvenuti.
Marcela Solá, who plays Roberto’s mother, does not speak: directly, she cries out loud, desperate. As if she had been told that her son would be sent to war.
And there’s more.
The confession scene
Roberto goes to church to confess.
“All your sins will be forgiven you,” the priest tells him, in this case, in the role of Osvaldo Terranova.
“Look, these aren’t the same sins as when I was a boy,” Roberto is mortified. And he adds: “I live as a couple…”.
“And is it an irregular couple?” asks God’s representative on Earth.
“Very much”, replies Roberto.
“And you’re not married? Don’t worry son. The Lord will forgive you. What’s your couple’s name?”
“Uhhh, his name is Marcelo. I told him it was a grave sin.”
The priest explodes: “Idiot! This is not fixed in the confessional! And he also canned it, like Carlos Monzón did Mantequilla Nápoles.
Now, to update her on what is happening to her, Roberto visits Chabela, a madam very well played by Maria Vaner. “Look, Roberto, many guys who wanted to make their debut have passed through this piece. And no one has crossed over to the other side…”, the expert woman tells him.
“And what happened to you, little one? Because as a child you were a machine… I’ve always said it: when he grows up, this boy will be Gardel. And look at you, in the end you’re like Tita Merello”.
Roberto doesn’t know where to go.
Before Goodbye, RobertDawi, who died in 1988, had directed Carlos Calvo in two other films, both from 1980: Crazy about music, where did Julio; Y Lopez’s childrenwhere he played Gerardo López.
Carlín made his film debut in 1977, with a small role in What is Autumn?, by David José Kohon. In 1979 he played Raúl in This crazy crazy loveby Eva Landeck; in 1981 he appeared in Rhythm, love and spring, by Enrique Carreras, in the role of Agapito Culaciatti Grosso. His last film was wildcards (1997), by Jorge Nisco, where he paired with Adrián Suar.
Even if it’s the story of a love story, in Goodbye, Robert there are no kisses between the protagonists. It is, in this sense, a “discreet” film, which suggests more than it shows.
Remember Víctor Laplace: “With Carlín we thought about doing some more involved scenes compared to those that the director himself asked us. We gave him everything we could: a few looks, a hand on his chest, a few hugs… In short, the relationship was there, and it grew…”.
And he adds: “The film turned out very well. I remember an extraordinary scene by Ana María Picchio when she goes to see Marcelo in the apartment she shared with Roberto. There, she improvises and breaks a cup against the kitchen table… It wasn’t in the script and gave a lot of life to the film.
-How did your relationship with Carlín continue after working together on “Adiós, Roberto”?
-Excellent, we have maintained a beautiful friendship with Carlín. Also, every time we met, we laughed a lot. And when we said goodbye, we jokingly said to each other, like crazy: “Goodbye, Roberto”.
Source: Clarin
