Pelo Malo - DVD review

Directed by Mariana Rondon, 2013

Axiom

It could so easily be cute and cloying, this Venezuelan story about a misfit boy who dreams of pop stardom and of getting his hair straightened.

But this isn't Disney: the urban blight and his struggling single mother's stern gaze tell a different story. Her parenting approach is brusque, at times brutal, even bizarre (she believes letting Junior watch her have sex might make a man of him).

Writer/director Mariana Rondon sneaks in subtexts that hint at homophobia, racism and gang violence but does so with such a light touch that they never overwhelm Junior's small but poignant story.

Sentiment is allowed gently to warm a story that still never feels anything less than bracingly real.

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