Complex Novel Oversimplified: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022) - Reviewed

Image courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment 

Benjamin Alire Sáenz has written many young adult novels that are popular and well-loved for stories about hispanic young adults and for their inclusion of queer characters. One of the most successful is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, about two young hispanic high schoolers living in El Paso in the late 1980s.

The novel has been used in high school English curriculums because of it’s complex exploration of queerness and hispanic identity. It became so popular that it spawned the only sequel that Sáenz has written, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World.  It also received more attention when Lin-Manuel Miranda narrated the audiobook.

All the hype around the novel seemed to just beg for a film adaptation. And when it happened in 2022, many had high expectations for it. The resulting film, though, could be a letdown for die hard fans.

Sáenz was credited as co-writing the film with it’s director, Aitch Alberto. But the main weak point of the movie is that the complex source material is condensed into just 90 minutes. The novel’s exploration of identity and borderland issues (existing between two cultures and not feeling at home in either one) is reduced to just a few lines spread throughout the movie.

Had the film added another ten or fifteen minutes, then the beauty and complexity of the novel could have come through.

The story begins with Aristotle (Ari), an angsty and depressed rising sophomore loving the song La Mamba but being frustrated with the posturing and machismo of guys his age. During summer, he goes to a public pool to try to teach himself how to swim. After sliding into the water and then resurfacing, he’s greeted by Dante, sitting at the edge of the pool. This outgoing and quirky teen offers to give Ari swimming lessons, and then the two bond over their literary and pretentious first names.

Their friendship grows over the summer, but is challenged when Dante’s dad, an art professor, gets a visiting professorship at the University of Chicago for the next school year. The boys’ friendship grows and is tested through various plot events, including Dante sharing his orientation with Ari. Family trauma, secrets, and shame all get lip service in the brief runtime, but deserve more time.

All the other high points and defining moments of the novel are in the movie, but the film feels rushed, like it was made for TV. The film even has badly dubbed lines to cover over some profanity.  (However, the subtitles of the film seem to follow the film’s script instead of the dubbing, creating some dissonance and revealing everything being covered up). The film stays true to the novel’s themes of living without shame and the challenges of being queer, but it needed some more time to do the novel justice.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is now streaming on Kanopy.

 

- Eric Beach