It's a film of João Pedro Rodrigues with Fernando Santos in the main role.
"To die like a man" is a curious film. Striking. At the very least. Is not only an approach to the travesty world, but has almost an operatic context. It's a story on the edge. Tragic. Many people associate this kind of melodrama to the cinema of Almodóvar; curiously the script of this film is nothing like the Spanish director's stile. It is a kind of cinema that goes beyond the sparkles and sequins, shows life behind the scenes. The real stories. It is a universe in decay embodied by Deborah Cristal, an aging character, overcome by time and by competition from younger and muscular transvestites. It's the final stretch of a hallucinatory journey in the company of his young addict lover who he cherishes almost as a son. It is also a portrait of the nightlife of Lisbon in the eighties, which burned the streets with its large and colorful human diversity. One of the great advantages of this feature film are the dialogues, there is a touching scene, I believe in the cold greenhouse, where Tonia and a friend discuss the advantages or not finally becoming a woman with a full body and his inner struggler about this irreversible decision through a surgery that will put an end to his residual masculinity. It's like he says in the movie, "not a man and a woman that will never be" The end of this film is amazing. Deborah Crystal assumes his real identity and ends the cycle of life as a man leaving behind his former identity as the queen of the night. The final scene is very beautiful. I note, finally the work of Fernando Santos who is not professional actor but grabs this character he knows too well, since he also acts as a transvestite in the Lisbon nightlife. Good movie!
