Cachorro

Infobox Film
name = Cachorro


image_size =
caption =
director = Miguel Albaladejo
producer = Juan Alexander
Sergio Castellote
Jose Luis Garcia Arroyo
writer = Miguel Albaladejo
Salvador García Ruiz
narrator =
starring = José Luis García Pérez
David Castillo
Diana Cerezo
Arno Chevrier
Teresa Empar Ferrer
music = Lucio Godoy
cinematography = Alfonso Sanz
editing = Pablo Blanco
distributor = TLA Releasing
Televisión Española
Canal+
Telemadrid
released = flagicon|SpainFebruary 27, 2004
flagicon|USANovember 5, 2004 (New York)
flagicon|USANovember 19, 2004 (Los Angeles)
runtime = 98 min.
country = ESP
language = Spanish
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.tlareleasing.com/details/product_details.cfm?id=203461&v=1
amg_id = 1:303927
imdb_id = 359045

"Cachorro" (known as "Bear Cub" in English-speaking markets) is a 2004 Spanish gay-themed (in particular, the gay Bear community) drama film written and directed by Miguel Albaladejo. It is about a bearish gay man who ends up looking after his nephew while his sister goes away to India and in turn makes him develop a fatherly bond with the boy as well as forcing him to alter his lifestyle. The Spanish word "cachorro" describes any young, furry animal such as a cub or puppy.

Plot

As a favor to his hippy sister who has gone off to India, Pedro, a gay dentist, has agreed to look after his eleven-year-old nephew, Bernardo. Bernardo’s father is dead and the boy and his uncle have not had much to do with each other until now. Originally, the boy was to stay with Pedro for a few days, but six weeks have passed with no word from the boy's mother.

His nephew’s presence forces Pedro to take a break from his otherwise extremely active sex life. In fact, Pedro was beginning to tire of the superficial nature of his many relationships. Even his boyfriend, Manuel, who suddenly pays Pedro a visit and who shares his penchant for leather and latex, is not really the man with whom he wants to spend the rest of his life. Then, all at once, an entirely different set of problems crops up. For one there’s Doña Teresa, Bernardo’s paternal grandmother, who one day darkens Pedro’s door and puts the emotional screws on him. Worse still, however, is the news that Bernardo’s mother has been arrested in India for drug smuggling. She may be facing a prison sentence of thirty years, so the embassy informs Pedro. Pedro is just as shocked at this news as Bernardo; nevertheless, he realizes that he is now responsible for the boy. Without further ado, he decides to rise to the challenge this represents. There suddenly seem to be so many things to organize – such as repairs to the house and finding a school for the boy – that Pedro hardly misses the life he used to lead. Gradually, however, he succeeds in rekindling his sex life – albeit in a less excessive form.

Then Doña Teresa puts in another appearance, this time demanding custody of Bernardo. But Pedro is ready to fight for the boy’s welfare. After illegally obtaining his medical history (revealing that Pedro is HIV positive) and hiring a private investigator who obtains pictures of Pedro on a night out in a gay club, and threatening him with both, he ends up letting her put Bernardo in a boarding school. When his grandmother goes to visit him later on revealing Pedro's HIV (despite their previous agreement), Bernardo reveals that he already knew from his mother, and that his mother was HIV positive as well. She then reveals that he is in the hospital with pneumonia. He then tells her that he hates her and that it's her fault that he's currently in the hospital, because he wasn't there to care for him.

Three years pass, letters go back and forth between Bernardo, Pedro, his mother and his grandmother. We then see Bernardo and his friends at a funeral, and a casket being lowered. Shortly after, a cab pulls up with Pedro in it, out of the hospital and healthy, then revealing that it was the grandmother's funeral they were attending. After a brief conversation, Bernardo goes and hugs and kisses his friends goodbye, then he and his uncle reunite and ride away in the cab together.

Cast

*José Luis García Pérez as Pedro
*David Castillo as Bernardo
*Diana Cerezo as Lola
*Arno Chevrier as Manuel
*Empar Ferrer as Doña Teresa
*Mario Arias as Javi

Distribution

The film originally debuted at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival on February 8, 2004, and was shortly followed by a nationwide release in Spain on February 27, 2004. It then made its debut in the United States at the 2004 Miami International GL Film Festival on April 28, 2004, and got theatrical releases in New York on November 5, 2004 and in Los Angeles on November 19, 2004, earning $99,261 at the U.S. Box Office. [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808600724/info Bear Cub (2004) - Movie Info - Yahoo! Movies ] ] It was first released on DVD-video on May 10, 2005, and was released again as an unrated director's cut on March 1, 2007.

Film Festivals

*2004 Berlin International Film Festival
*2004 Tribeca Film Festival
*40th Chicago International Film Festival
*2004 Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
*2004 Miami International GL Film Festival [ [http://www.tlareleasing.com/details/product_details.cfm?id=203461&v=1 TLA Releasing - Bear Cub ] ]

Tag line

"Parenthood is about to get a little hairier."

References

External links

* [http://www.tlareleasing.com/details/product_details.cfm?id=203461&v=1 Official TLA Releasing Site]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359045/ "Cachorro"] at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:303927 "Cachorro"] at Allmovie