Australian-born Michael Rowe made his directorial debut in this 2010 Mexican drama “Año Bisiesto” [Eng. Title: Leap Year]. I wanted to see this during one of its screenings in the UK, but work kept me away and had to wait for the DVD to be out.
It’s a sad but beautiful film dealing with complex issues like loneliness, particularly urban solitude, marginalisation within ‘mainstream society’ due to gender or ethnicity, and also a thirst for love. And what better setting than the biggest urban zone of all, with deeply set divisions within – Mexico city. The director had lived in Mexico for several years and has used his intimate knowledge of the city and its culture to tell us the story of Laura, a Mexican native American.
A migrant from the provinces, Laura makes a living as a freelance journalist. She lives alone and is on the verge of depression. In her desperate search for intimacy and companionship, she has meaningless sexual encounters with various men. Her loneliness is exemplified through the vicarious pleasure she takes in watching a young couple living opposite displaying affection for one another. She craves for a similar affection, having never before experienced it herself. Every time her mum or friends call, she lies to them by portraying herself as living a far more interesting life than she thinks she is.
When Laura reaches a point where she wants to end it all, she set herself a date to end her existence – February the 29th – the same day her father died four years earlier. It’s not coincidental that the date of this post would have also been February the 29th, had it been a leap year.
Laura meets Arturo. During their first night, they somehow ‘connect’, and for a change, they meet again. Arturo thinks he’d finally found someone upon whom he can act out his sexual fetishes, whereas Laura endures the abuse willingly in order to experience the intimacy that their sex sessions bring. The long post-coital scenes on the couch are just as important as the sex, as this is when they really get to know each other. However, the intensity of their sadomasochistic acts increase with each sex session, until her deadline of 29th of February begins to loom in front of her, and Arturo is tasked to help in her mission…
Apart from two scenes in a supermarket, the entire film is shot from inside a small flat. Laura’s. The air of claustrophobia is adequately illustrated using simple but effective directorial and cinematographic techniques. The acting from both the lead characters is sincere and intense, especially Laura, played by Mónica del Carmen, and the storytelling is quite captivating. This film was made on a shoestring budget, but put together well with care and devotion, a feat appreciated at Cannes last year when it deservedly won the Camera d’Or.
Now that the DVD is out – there’s no reason not to buy it, not only for the fine film but also the interesting points Director Rowe raises in his interview. Please treat these scenes below as a sampler – if you like them, buy the film. Highly Recommend Viewing..!
Amazon DVD Link [PAL]
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Scene 1:
Laura brings a guy after an evening out. No sooner does he catch his breath after sex, the guy’s asking for his pants to go home to his wife…
Some nude scenes of Mónica del Carmen in Año Bisiesto.
Scene 2:
When Laura brings home Arturo for the first time, a bond spontaneously develops between the two – it’s as if he knew what she wanted, and was only too happy to give. The sex scenes are nevertheless not really erotic and there is sadness displayed in Laura’s emotions even through her orgasms.
More nudity by Mónica del Carmen from the 2010 Mexican film, “Año Bisiesto” aka Leap Year.
Scene 3:
The infliction of pain during sex appears to have a cathartic effect on Laura, and the sado-masochistic element of their sex sessions intensify. The post-coital scene is however moving, when Arturo asks Laura to tell something she had never told anyone before.
Mónica del Carmen and her lover experiment with sado-masochism in Año Bisiesto.
Scene 4:
Laura welcomes him in the nude as usual, but Arturo asks her to clear the room, slaps and ‘forces’ her to masturbate while urinating all over her. When he asks her later how it felt to be pissed on, she smiles and says, “it felt warm” – the warm feeling in sharing an unmentionable secret with Arturo, something very personal that they could tell no one. During their next session, Arturo burns her with a cigarette, Laura by now is ready to take anything, whenever the doorbell rings. In the last part of the compilation, she turns down new work opportunity from a publisher, lying to him that she’s emigrating to Switzerland to work at the embassy there.
Mónica del Carmen in an explicit urination scene from the 2010 Mexican film, “Año Bisiesto”.
Scene 5:
Laura welcomes Arturo holding a kitchen knife – she wants him to cut her. He hesitates. During their customary chat, she masturbates him while describing how it would feel to actually mutilate her while making love. She suggests he could if he wants even come inside her dead body after slitting her throat. The scene is explicit, but is not a all designed to titillate, unless you are one of those who need help. I have also appended an unrelated shower scene towards the end.
Sexual fantasies take a sinister turn after Mónica del Carmen masturbates her lover in “Año Bisiesto”.
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