Yo soy asi

Mario has lived for thirty years in a small room on the fourth floor of a house without a lift. At night he changes into a woman to work in a nightclub and when day breaks he ‘shrivels up’ into a man. Mario is a transformista. With a few other ageing artistes he performs every evening in front of a tiny audience in the variety club ‘La Bodega Bohemia’ in Barcelona. Host and manager Enrique is like a father to this strange collection of artistes who include a mentally handicapped adopted ‘son’ (54), a singing plumber, ageing transvestites (the oldest is 77) and the only real imitator of the legendary Cuban singer Antonio Machin. Mario’s main act is called ‘Yo Soy Asi’ (That’s how I am), a song in which he ridicules who he is. One day Mario and the other artistes hear they will be sacked, because the wife of the senile owner has sold the club. From then on Mario’s life only consists of caring for his old half-blind and deaf landlady, Maruja. After having lived a double life for so long, as transformista, he takes the road towards The End. The documentary starts during the last four days of Mario’s life as transformista and allows us to witness the moving last show at the variety club, before the curtain finally falls.