THE STORY – Follows a gay hairdresser who turns his salon into a refuge when an unknown illness befalls his city.
THE CAST – Sam Louwyck & Erwan Kepoa Falé
THE TEAM – Nathalia Acevedo (Director/Writer) & Diego Sepulveda (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 110 Minutes
There are plenty of moments in life that can be indicative of a great beauty that one struggles to fully comprehend. It becomes a more difficult task when such alluring artistry becomes crossed with a more melancholic feeling, twisting the moments of joy with the heartbreaking sorrow that seems persistent. At first, it’s a burden for such opposing emotions to exist simultaneously. The elation should exist independent of the sadness that can taint such bliss. However, there also lies a greater appreciation of the two co-existing. Each one informs the other, underlining how important it is to treasure those times of happiness when they are ironically juxtaposed against the darkness that can follow. It’s a theme that flows throughout “Salón de Belleza,” a provocative meditation on the fleeting bouts of delight that must be appreciated amidst a sea of turmoil.
Much of the film’s setting is cloaked in mystery, as an unknown city is featured and its inhabitants are falling victim to an illness that has not been defined. Those afflicted find themselves weakened and needing care in a society that has deemed them outcasts. They seek shelter at a rundown beauty salon, run by a man known only as the Individual (Sam Louwyck). He cares for them as best he can, attending to their needs for sustenance and rest before they eventually pass away. Through this process, he recalls an earlier time in his life when the business was booming, and his time as a hairdresser had him crossing paths with eccentric and memorable people. Now, those memories fade in and out of the more painful present. As time progresses, the vivid recollections find themselves altering his reality further, pushing him to a place in which all these emotions must come to a cathartic reckoning.
Nathalia Acevedo builds a sensual world that thrives on an ethereal atmosphere. From the very first frame that zooms in on a cluster of bubbles that dissolves the scenery from an open ocean to a closed-off fish bowl, there is an immediate sense of the elasticity of this world’s perspective. Time is not exactly linear here, and the experience can often be effectively hypnotic, especially when accompanied by the droning score. The portrait here is one that appreciates the relationship between beauty and death, the harsh juxtaposition between them that further enlightens their purpose. Seeing the salon in its former glory, a haven for a prosperous community of what appears to be LGBTQ individuals, now being used as a house of death can draw a few metaphorical parallels to real world atrocities. The decaying aesthetics underline the tragic circumstances, further pushed by the dying guppies the Individual possesses that succeed in one moment and are headed for the drain in the next. There is a fascinating layering being presented by Acevedo’s intriguing filmmaking that crafts an engaging landscape.
However, these efforts start to wane in their impact. The narrative is quite captivating, and the pacing of the film moves at an efficient rate, but that momentum stalls in the second act. The storytelling isn’t obsessed with concrete plot progression, which is totally satisfactory in the beginning. But soon, the compelling threads become frayed in this fractured worldview, and the more intimate aspects of what could be attached to a moving character study are quickly brushed aside. It’s particularly felt when a young man, played by Erwan Kepoa Falé, enters the facility and the Individual imagines an erotic connection between the two. It’s an engrossing insight into the desires of an older gentleman, still infused with an invigorating force that fights against being extinguished in a suffocating environment. Yet, it’s an examination that goes unfulfilled as the story morphs away from making this more of an essential aspect of the film. A group of citizens appear to be harassing the establishment and its residents, signaling a more aggressive attack of these ostracized people from society at large, but their intimidating actions always fall short, with arson attempts failing to succeed without concrete reasoning. These methods play into the film’s intentionally loose structure, but it also frustrates the thematic commentary. The sequences that could produce a more well-rounded exploration of these characters are not indulged properly enough to become wholly satisfying.
Louwyck is inhabiting the only significant role in the film, but he brings an incredible amount of screen presence to the role. His sorrowful narrative provides both a gloomy melancholy with enough of a tinge that hints at a more exciting life that’s buried beneath. When he’s seen visiting a bathhouse and leering at all the sexual activity, there is a powerful yearning that is communicated within his eyes that’s completely riveting. For a film that thrives on a story structure that’s not very solidified, Louwyck provides a comforting anchor in the meandering stream. It’s a moving portrayal that also lights up with every brief interaction with other characters, which is why Falé underutilization is also bothersome. It’s not that the pair have the most amazing chemistry, but there is a soulfulness to Falé that matches nicely with Louwyck. Continuing to see two isolated people find their way to connect in a manner that is not only interracial but intergenerational as well would have been so absorbing. It ends up being a missed opportunity for greater appreciation.
“Salón de Belleza” is not a film that is interested in a concrete plot with distinctly defined characters. It is meant to be more a pensive reflection on a world that finds a strange community bond that is forged both in thriving life and a decaying end. In many ways, it’s an enthralling showcase that moves one on a more spiritual level. Through its striking color scheme and atmospheric tone, the intimacy that is cited can often be appealing to discover. Still, at a certain point, the lack of focus causes friction when the potential for a more focused method starts to rear its head. The story yearns for more flesh-out characterizations, especially when Sam Louwyck is doing so much to give an absorbing portrayal. There’s a lot to admire in this analysis of how things of beauty can co-exist in a landscape where bleakness can be all-consuming, but it falls a bit short in becoming consistently mesmerizing.
