The Argentinian film-maker, whose movies blur the lines between gay and straight, discusses what inspired him to make his latest work – queer romcom The Astronaut Lovers
Marco Berger’s films often begin, in one way or another, with a knock on the door. A young gay man steps into a summer house, or sometimes a luxury villa, typically inhabited by a group of attractive young men on holiday. As homoerotic tension simmers, the hyper-masculine environment is charged with banter, dares, and provocative games. The Argentinian director’s films test the fragile boundaries of homosocial spaces, blurring the lines between gay and straight as characters navigate complex emotions. His settings become pressure cookers – or at times, ticking time bombs – of unspoken dynamics, male bonding, and the perils of repressed desire.
It’s these elements – heightened by homoerotic scenes and prolonged shots of the male body – that have made Berger one of the most prolific and successful film-makers in Latin America and widely pirated globally. “I’m obsessed with telling the story of two men in a summer house because summer creates the perfect conditions for exploring male desire,” Berger says. “The clothes come off, and the skin is exposed. It’s the perfect setting.”
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