Maspalomas: Charming, Raw & Heartbreakingly Human

Cinema is special for many reasons. It offers a shelter from the outside world, our everyday lives. Every film can feel like an escape. But only a special few films make us feel, fall and find freedom. Maspalomas is one of those films.  

On Sunday, the 22nd of February, I hosted a Q&A at the Dublin International Film Festival, where I spoke to director duo Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi Galdos about their heartbreaking queer film, Maspalomas.  

Goenaga and Galdos are co-founders of Basque Moriarti Produkzioak, a production company established in 2001. After more than 25 years of collaboration, Maspalomas is the first fiction feature film the duo has directed together, despite having previously co-directed the documentary Lucio in 2007. 

The film follows Vincente, an elderly man who lives a very sexually active life in Maspalomas, after breaking up with his long-time boyfriend. Escaping from his closeted life in San Sebastián 25 years earlier, he is forced to return home to reunite with his estranged daughter and move into a nursing home. Forced to come to terms with his errors of the past, sexuality and the uncertain future, Vincente embarks on a journey of self-acceptance. With a focus on human connection, relationships and raw emotion, this film highlights a forgotten demographic within LGBTQ+ cinema.  

Set in the beginning of 2020, naturally, Covid-19 is an important element that slowly begins to factor into the film. Goenaga noted that this storyline was not in the original version of the script. Rather, it was written in later, to emphasise the loneliness faced by the elderly in care homes and to highlight how Vincente’s story was ever evolving,  

One scene, in particular, sees Vincente return to his old regular bar, reuniting with his old friend, Oscar. Once a popular night club scene for queer men, the bar is now deserted. Vincente questions where everyone has gone into hiding, if not in their local queer bar.  

“We are out of the closet and into what?” 

Judith Butler  

A powerful moment in the film, Vincente is confronted with the fact Maspalomas became another closet for him to hide in. He is forced to reckon with his sexuality, battling his inner homophobia and coming to terms with growing older.  

Perhaps somewhat frustratingly, the ending of the film is left for the audience's interpretation. When I questioned the directors about this decision, they explained how they wanted to portray the continuation of Vincent's life - it wasn’t an end for him, simply a new beginning. They shared with me some of the audience's interpretations of the film, before detailing their own interpretation of the ending.  

That, however, is something I’ll keep to myself. For no matter what ending you interpret, it remains an unforgettable cinematic experience.