CACHORRO - by Sabine Meyer

The Spanish film "Cachorro" by Miguel Albaladejo introduces us to Pedro, a gay dentist who finds himself having to take care of his 9-year-old nephew Bernado while his sister Violetta is off to India with one of her hippie-friends. Eventually Violetta never returns from her trip as she has been caught trying to smuggle heroine. So HIV-positive Pedro is forced to keep Bernardo. It turns out to be quite difficult juggling his loose sexual life style with the boy around. The two grow very close though and Pedro makes some sacrifices to be able to fulfill the boy’s needs.

That’s when Dona Teresa, Violetta’s former mother-in-law, enters the scene and tries to get custody of Bernardo. She uses Pedro’s infection to threaten him and he gives up the idea of fighting back since he does not want Bernardo to now about it. So the distressed boy end up in a boarding school.

The film is nicely structured and draws a beautiful picture of the blooming reletationship between Pedro and Bernardo. The end however is rather disappointing. Albaladejo chose to conclude the films three years later in the timeline. Bernardo attends the funeral of Dona Teresa and is finally "reunited" with Pedro. I personally believe the film would have been much better had the director decided to cut the last bit since it appears rather unmotivated and is somewhat contraproductive considering the main body of the film.