I agree with Salma Hayek, who exclaimed "so many Mexicans!" while announcing the nominations for the 2007 Oscars ceremony, that the past twelve months have featured a bounty of great Mexican films. Babel and Pan's Labyrinth won deserved acclaim, and the lesser-known Broken Sky, while not in the league of those two other films, was one of the highlights of the gay film year.

Gerardo (Miguel Ángel Hoppe) meets Jonas (Fernando Arroyo) by chance on the sports oval steps of the spectacular campus of the National University of Mexico. The young lovers begin a passionate affair, but it soons become clear that Gerardo's feelings are not matched by the beefer, flashier Jonas, who is ever-tempted by the eyes that fall upon him every time he visits the disco. Waiting for Gerardo to become single is his secret admirer Sergio (Alejandro Rojo) who's a bit older and more mysterious, and spends a lot of time appearing seductively at the ends of the shadowy university library shelves.

This is a slow-moving, elliptical film that runs for almost two-and-a-half hours and yet contains little more than a dozen lines of dialogue. Though at times a little over-tranquilised, it is beautifully staged and as Kevin Thomas of the L.A. Times noted, more akin to a choreographed piece of dance performance than a film. The actors move around each other with hypnotic deliberation and the steady pace is broken every half hour with an upbeat disco scene. The storyline, too, has the slightness of a dance piece - two young lovers falling quickly into then hesitantly out of love. I thought it was remarkable how much idea and emotion Broken Sky generated out of this slight plot and limited verbal exposition.

Unfortunately (and rather like the occasional night out at a performance of experimental dance) proceedings become increasingly bogged down, and after the first ninety minutes, well-framed scenes and pensive glances through the ventian blinds just don't cut it anymore and the film starts to become like a sedative.

The simmering pace does suit the storyline - I was amazed how interested I remained and the performances are excellent. Hernández is an aesthete and his film is always ravishing to look at. But overall, the style of the film is interesting but the substance of your art-house cinema's seat cushions may start to become an issue before Broken Sky concludes.

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