The Way He Looks is the coming of age story of Leo, a blind, middle class Brazilian teenager. At the film's open, Leo and best friend Giovana lay by her pool lamenting the lack of romance in their lives. Why not just kiss each other, they wonder. But Leo longs for his first kiss to be meaningful.
As Leo's classmates cruelly mock his disability, Gabriel, a new student, joins the class. Giovana becomes jealous as Leo and Gabriel develop a friendship that she feels crowds her out. Meanwhile, Leo feels constrained by his parent's loving but excessive protectiveness and longs for a sense of independence despite his disability.
Leo falls in love with Gabriel, who reciprocates the feelings, and Leo reconciles with Giovana. A simple love story, perhaps. However, Leo's blindness and resulting magnified need for others makes both his periods of isolation and intimacy palpable to the viewer. It projects outward and exaggerates the bipolar emotional turmoil of adolescence, the promise of youth, and the singular wonder of young love.
I love this movie enough to forgive it for triggering the cold realization of how many years separated I am from that period of my life. As a seasoned adult I wonder whether Leo and Gabriel have a future together, whether they truly know one another. But I know the relationship, as beautiful as it is, is merely a supporting element in the tale of greater beauty--that of a young man coming of age. I also know that I will never be young again.
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