Cold Hands

Tato and Cello, cousins, are thrown together as children, already carrying the scars of their parents' cruelty. Cello witnessed his mother's suicide; Tato was punished by his father's sadistic stupidity. The intense, loving relationship the two boys form shields them from the savage life around them. Just as their gentle aunt Zia enters their life and begins to show them the world as it can be, the boys are torn apart and Cello is sent to school in Europe.

Cello decides to study for the priesthood, but the more he advances, the more he questions his faith. Two weeks before his ordination he returns home to ponder that final step. He seeks out Tato, fresh from a failed marriage. Before long, Cello decides against the priesthood as the two cousins recapture their feelings for each other. But, as men now, their sexuality threatens to explode, and Cello flees.

In an auto accident, Cello's face is scarred and he suffers a strange, voluntary repression of identity. He marries, raises a family, and settles into an unhappy life. Now, ten years after they have parted, the cousins meet again, unleashing an emotional whirlpool of remembrance and a final dramatic resolution.