The Consul of Sodom

In 1959, Jaime Gil de Biedma travels to Manila on business as director of the Philippine Tobacco Company. At night he gives free rein to his homosexuality, meeting Johnny in an erotic nightclub and sharing a sexual encounter. The poverty he witnesses in Manila leaves a lasting impression and sharpens his social conscience.

Back in Barcelona, the police interrogate Jaime about his subversive friends who dream of regime change in Spain. He is refused membership in the Communist Party because he is gay, highlighting the era's intolerance. The incident deepens his alienation from mainstream politics and fuels his personal resolve.

He visits his friend editor Carlos Barral and meets the young writer Juan Marsé, joining a literary network on the verge of publishing his own work. They discuss art, politics, and the responsibilities of being a public intellectual. The encounter cements his place in Spain's vibrant literary milieu.

Jaime treats his lover Luis with contempt, treating the relationship as a possession rather than a partnership. After a heated argument, Luis leaves him for good, marking a personal wound that echoes his later self-critique.

He describes himself as a 'Sunday poet with a Monday conscience,' balancing weekdays in the family business with a bohemian, carefree weekend lifestyle. Don Luis, his father, handles the couple's police troubles but warns Jaime that he must sort out his life or risk ruining the family business.

By the mid-1960s, Jaime's favorite hangout is the Bocaccio nightclub, where he meets Bel, a divorced woman with two kids. They quickly start a relationship that pulls him into a new, complex world of love and dependency.

Bel remains entangled in a bitter custody fight with her ex-husband, complicating Jaime's feelings and decisions. He buys an apartment and asks Bel to marry him, but she turns him down, insisting on their freedom to live as they please.

After a drunken night, Bel dies in an accident, sending Jaime into a despairing spiral and triggering a suicide attempt. His friends and family rally to pull him back, and he ultimately vows never to write poetry again.

At the beginning of the 1970s, Jaime travels to the Philippines to oversee the company's economic changes under Ferdinand Marcos's dictatorship. The trip marks a shift in his professional life amid political turmoil.

Upon returning home, Jaime meets Toni, a young photography assistant of humble background, and they begin a relationship. Despite his class awareness, Jaime remains drawn to people of lower backgrounds, and Toni asks to learn from him and be introduced into his sophisticated world.

At the beach with Toni and friends, Jaime is moved to tears by a girl dancing with Toni, highlighting the pull of youth. As a middle-aged poet, he confronts the passage of time and writes lines about youth's impudent delight and the limits of aging.

Jaime's father dies, increasing tensions with Toni. A violent confrontation at the country house ends with Toni throwing him out; Jaime falls and is injured in the snow, nearly dying. He reflects that growing old and facing mortality is the driving force of life.

Years later, old and tired, Jaime learns he has AIDS. His friends organize a poetry recital at Madrid's Students Residence that turns into a public celebration of the poet's life and legacy.

Despite aging, he still yearns for youth and beauty. He hires a young male prostitute and, in a hotel room, can only passively watch the young dancer perform to The Pet Shop Boys' Always on My Mind.