Your love's mother gets married to your father, she becomes your sister and you grow up together as brother and sister. What a story!!! And Julio Medem is a great director who made a very good film from this story. The movie is full of original ideas, this uncommon relationship requires an uncommon way of telling. The story builts up from mosaics so it keeps you interested in until the last minute because you have to put the pieces in order for yourself. It's a fantastic idea that we can only see the children (Otto and Ana) at the back seat of the parents' car going to school. They don't meet each other for years just at the car and they don't even talk to each other because their love is so deep and spiritual that words are unnecessary. Just secret touches, stolen moments. When the teenager Otto moves to his father's and stepmother's house because he wants to be next to Ana, they become real lovers. The first night together, when their spiritual love becomes physical, is a so gentle, innocent and discovering journey into the world of sexuality, that never been better put on screen before. The next scenes, where we can see them as secret lovers hiding from the parents are so beautiful that the last one hour, when Otto leaves Ana and works as a pilot and they don't meet for years, is one of the most sorrowful one hour in the film history. They are crossing each other's lines, but they never meet, and it causes a physical pain to the viewer. During these years they're getting to know more about themselves and their family, relationships, have some accidental meetings. Finally, years after they meet... The ending is as unusual as the whole movie, Julio Medem had enough talent to make a good ending which is the biggest risk of the movies - and he doesn't fail, leaves some doors open, because life doesn't finish, when curtain goes down. Full of surprises, one of the best film of the 90s. I highly recommend it to everyone who is tired of pink, unrealistic romantic films, and wants to see a really good, modern romantic film.
83 Reviews
A philosophical movie about love and life, about coincidences,... Interesting, but probably not to everybody's taste.
philip_vanderveken1 January 2005
Los Amantes del Círculo Polar is probably not a movie to everybody's taste. If you want to see a lot of action, great comedy or some astonishing special effects, you better don't even think about watching this one. In fact it hasn't much more to offer but some philosophical thinking. Thinking about destiny and how we can't escape from it, thinking about life and love, thinking about coincidences...
It starts with a young boy running through a forest because he wants to retrieve a soccer ball. A girl of about his age is running through the same forest. She's running because her mother told her that her father has died. He follows her and she falls on the ground. She sees him and immediately recognizes her father in him, he on the other hand immediately falls in love with her... Because of some coincidences his father and her mother start a relationship and they become "brother and sister". As they grow older their love for each other doesn't fade, but their lives separate. In the end they meet each other again, not in Spain, but in Lapland (Finland).
Los Amantes del Círculo Polar is shot in a very original way. First you get the scene from the point of view of one of the two characters, than you get the scene again, but this time from the other character's side. Even though the director has paid more attention to the story and the way it was told than to the performances of the actors, this still is a very impressive movie. I give it an 8.5/10
It starts with a young boy running through a forest because he wants to retrieve a soccer ball. A girl of about his age is running through the same forest. She's running because her mother told her that her father has died. He follows her and she falls on the ground. She sees him and immediately recognizes her father in him, he on the other hand immediately falls in love with her... Because of some coincidences his father and her mother start a relationship and they become "brother and sister". As they grow older their love for each other doesn't fade, but their lives separate. In the end they meet each other again, not in Spain, but in Lapland (Finland).
Los Amantes del Círculo Polar is shot in a very original way. First you get the scene from the point of view of one of the two characters, than you get the scene again, but this time from the other character's side. Even though the director has paid more attention to the story and the way it was told than to the performances of the actors, this still is a very impressive movie. I give it an 8.5/10
Beautiful, Romantic Coincidences
noralee12 December 2005
"Lovers of the Artic Circle (Los Amantes del Círculo Polar)" was basically "Next Stop Wonderland" crossed with "Map of the Human Heart" about a couple who fall in love as children and continue star-crossed throughout their lives.
The critics decried the theme of coincidence but it does in fact happen, so it was sweet here.
And yes they are both easy on the eyes and maybe that it's in Spanish makes them seem even more romantic.
I liked that the parents were real people who have problems and lives and grow and change.
The story line goes from each's perspective in flashbacks and current, illuminating thoughts and motivations, which seems to be a trend in movie-making.
Quite beautiful cinematography.
(originally written 5/2/1999)
The critics decried the theme of coincidence but it does in fact happen, so it was sweet here.
And yes they are both easy on the eyes and maybe that it's in Spanish makes them seem even more romantic.
I liked that the parents were real people who have problems and lives and grow and change.
The story line goes from each's perspective in flashbacks and current, illuminating thoughts and motivations, which seems to be a trend in movie-making.
Quite beautiful cinematography.
(originally written 5/2/1999)
Deep into visual poetry
cmmescalona10 April 2004
It's really difficult to understand European cinema after watching thousands of American-Big Studio films.
At least that's what looks clearly apparent when I read many of the comments in imdb. But for some of us, who are in contact with a different way of making films, this one excels at the visual poetry from the very start.
And from a cinematographer's point of view, as a real jewel in filmmaking. What Los Amantes is about, is love, and only that. The way this story is portrayed is quite original, in a way some directors have tried and done pretty good jobs (Alejandro González Iñárritu, for instance, in his two films: Amores Perros and 21 Grams). It's a compelling way to explain simple things in reverse. Thoughts, and internal processes are not directly understood or apparent to the viewer. Medem demands his audience to think (remember Abre los Ojos).
It's really sad to think that linear and flat plots that only demand to sit and watch are what most people see as good films. When something catches them out of balance, sometimes they refuse to stay tuned and think.
The revelation, as is with this film, comes at the very end. And it deserves a second session to go through the small details -which are plenty in Medem's work.
It's a long film... some argue. What is a long film when everything is like a whirlpool that draws you in? I don't think this is a long film. Me and many of my friends have pored through it many, many times. So many, in fact, that we had to throw away the original video. A pity, because it was in it's original widescreen version, not as the recently issued dvd that's been murderously cropped.
Whatever it is what you like to see, take a look at this film. It can open a lot of possibilities to widen your taste, and your approach to "long" films.
At least that's what looks clearly apparent when I read many of the comments in imdb. But for some of us, who are in contact with a different way of making films, this one excels at the visual poetry from the very start.
And from a cinematographer's point of view, as a real jewel in filmmaking. What Los Amantes is about, is love, and only that. The way this story is portrayed is quite original, in a way some directors have tried and done pretty good jobs (Alejandro González Iñárritu, for instance, in his two films: Amores Perros and 21 Grams). It's a compelling way to explain simple things in reverse. Thoughts, and internal processes are not directly understood or apparent to the viewer. Medem demands his audience to think (remember Abre los Ojos).
It's really sad to think that linear and flat plots that only demand to sit and watch are what most people see as good films. When something catches them out of balance, sometimes they refuse to stay tuned and think.
The revelation, as is with this film, comes at the very end. And it deserves a second session to go through the small details -which are plenty in Medem's work.
It's a long film... some argue. What is a long film when everything is like a whirlpool that draws you in? I don't think this is a long film. Me and many of my friends have pored through it many, many times. So many, in fact, that we had to throw away the original video. A pity, because it was in it's original widescreen version, not as the recently issued dvd that's been murderously cropped.
Whatever it is what you like to see, take a look at this film. It can open a lot of possibilities to widen your taste, and your approach to "long" films.
One of Medem's masterpieces (again)
hanzap28 December 2003
For people who do not like Medems work, it will be hard to watch and boring. If you liked any of his other films you will love it. Otherwise you will have to sit and be patient to let Medem touch you. Everyone will recognize some parts his own falling in love, or his relationship with his parents. Medem describes all this in a poetic and heartbreaking way, edited in multiple viewpoints. If you can open up yourself on these subjects, this film will make you think over your own life, love and parents. It is also nice to see that this film fits exactly between "Tierra" and "Sex and Lucia", Medems other masterpieces made before and after this movie. Absolutely great stuff.
A great movie to see
adigia3 February 2001
You have to watch this wonderful movie about love and destiny. Everything is perfect; the plot and the picture match in an unique way. This movie will make you think about your own life and all the coincidences that surround it.
Movies that challenge the mind....
wisewebwoman26 December 2003
And this one does. The names of the protagonists are palindromes, Otto and Ana.
Life may be a palindrome. There is much talk of circles. The beginning of the movie may be the end.
Coincidences abound. Missed chances, never more exemplified than by the two lovers sitting unaware of each other in a cafe and moving along on another path for a while.
Haunting images of caribou, planes crashing, red buses, accidents that may or may not be happening. Newspaper headlines that could cover many similar events.
Destiny. Can we create our own? Is there just one soulmate out there for each of us? How does this movie end? All unknowns.
I was challenged, uplifted and mystified. Technically, the subtitles were very poor in places - white on white, frustrating.
Musically, very sombre, rather unnecessary. Children Ana and Otto beautiful, understated.
7 out of 10.
Life may be a palindrome. There is much talk of circles. The beginning of the movie may be the end.
Coincidences abound. Missed chances, never more exemplified than by the two lovers sitting unaware of each other in a cafe and moving along on another path for a while.
Haunting images of caribou, planes crashing, red buses, accidents that may or may not be happening. Newspaper headlines that could cover many similar events.
Destiny. Can we create our own? Is there just one soulmate out there for each of us? How does this movie end? All unknowns.
I was challenged, uplifted and mystified. Technically, the subtitles were very poor in places - white on white, frustrating.
Musically, very sombre, rather unnecessary. Children Ana and Otto beautiful, understated.
7 out of 10.
superb visions of cyclical nature of love/life
jgfisher10 November 2000
painted in short, sweet brushstrokes, direct as a paper airplane's flight, straight as the sun's course on the summer solstice at the arctic circle, this movie is vast as the skies and whole as a heart. the translation is excellent. all of them. love stories. this is a mythic movie. ¡Qué bueno!
Witty , intelligent and tragically romantic motion picture splendidly played by a marvelous couple
ma-cortes13 April 2015
Julio Medem directed this inspired film for Sogetel and producer Enrique López Lavigne and it was released in 1998 . Lush and dreamily beautiful flick from the filmmaker of Sex and Lucia . Spanish production with sharp acting , colorful cinematography , excellently interpreted and rousing as well as delicate score by Alberto Iglesias . Strange story about a rare and uneasy love story between two half-brothers . Otto (Fele Martínez) and Ana (Najwa Nimri) are kids when they meet each other . As Otto is just eight years old when falls in love with Anna . Their names are palindromes . Both of whom meet by chance, people are related by chance . Otto's daddy , Alvaro (Nancho Novo), too falls in love with Ana's mummy , Olga (Maru Valdivieso) . They make a family with a faultline running through their heart . A story of circular lives , in which young lovers settle into a complex and dramatic emotional orbit . Both these youngsters with circular names love and live inside their heads . It revolves around a kaleidoscope of circles surrounding circles . Their relationship is almost telepathic , a secret from their parents and virtually themselves . As they get older and look back , there's also much play on their records . Captured at moments of crisis and separation, these characters are forced to confront the precariousness of their secret and the great black of their breaking up . And they end on a circular place where the day never ends in the midnight sun . There are things that never finish , and Love is one of them . Destiny cannot denied .
Intense as well as allusive loving drama with top-notch acting , superb photography and sensitive soundtrack . Plenty of symbolism , enjoyable scenes , emotion , romantic incidents and ineffably dramatical . It is a accomplished film with a fabulous realization about a love story which burns like ice . Medem shot this film after getting divorced, because it was the first time he experienced heartbreak and he wanted to write a movie about the love as the most powerful force, something that never ends and it's forever between two people . This brooding picture contains shrewd interpretation by a wonderful couple , Najwa Nimry and Fele Martínez , and a good support cast full of prestigious players giving alright performances . In 1998 Medem released " The lovers of the Polar Circle ," considered his best movie by most of his fans and is also Julio's most deeply felt picture to date . It also became a box-office hit with more than one million spectators in Spain and was also released worldwide . It is a thought-provoking film dealing with a story of solitary people , as a strange , unsettling young , well played by Fele Martinez , and his lover , subsequently suffering a sad separation , being rivetingly performed by Najwa Nimri . This is a thrilling , exciting , elusive , deliberate though magnetic drama ; it is closer to Jane Campion than Carlos Saura . It contains marvelous photography , breathtaking musical score and enjoyable production design . It is a fascinating film though sometimes a little boring , slow-pace and overlong . Anyway, the film is interesting , thematically intriguing and weird ; Medem has his own style of telling a story . Thrilling as well as distinguished musical score mirroring well the scenery, its people and the story line, it was superbly composed by several times Oscar nominated Alberto Iglesias , Julio Medem's usual . In addition , a spotless pictorial cinematography by Gonzalo F. Berridi and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space .
The motion picture was well produced by Enrique Lopez Lavigne and Fernando Bovaira and originally directed by Julio Medem . Julio has a sharp eye for human relationships and about peculiar love stories . Medem alternates various points of view , relating events from several perspectives . He can't resist games , pattern and stratagems . As he directed "Ardilla Roja" or ¨The red squirrel¨ released in 1993, it was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and it confirmed Medem's talents and won prizes in Fort Lauderdale, Bogota and Bucarest . Medem had been making short movies with a super-8 camera owned by his father until he received a call from a new production company called Sogetel and executive producers Fernando de Garcillán , José Luis Olaizola , Enrique López Lavigne . They were interested in his script titled "Vacas" . It won the Goya Award from the Spanish academy for best new director, and won prizes in the festivals of Tokyo, Torino and Alexandria. In 2001 his fourth movie, "Lucia and sex ," became a huge hit and began the career of actress Paz Vega who won the Goya for best new actress . Although in 2003 failed with the release , "The Basque ball" , a documentary that portrays the phenomenon of nationalism and terrorism in the Basque Country of northern Spain , it was very polemical and partial . In 2007 directed the flop ¨Caotica Ana¨ and in 2010 , ¨Room in Rome¨, a successful though with not sense film , filled with nudism and only starred by two gorgeous naked girls . Julio Medem is for sure one of the the most important and original Spanish filmmaker. Well worth watching if you get the chance .
Intense as well as allusive loving drama with top-notch acting , superb photography and sensitive soundtrack . Plenty of symbolism , enjoyable scenes , emotion , romantic incidents and ineffably dramatical . It is a accomplished film with a fabulous realization about a love story which burns like ice . Medem shot this film after getting divorced, because it was the first time he experienced heartbreak and he wanted to write a movie about the love as the most powerful force, something that never ends and it's forever between two people . This brooding picture contains shrewd interpretation by a wonderful couple , Najwa Nimry and Fele Martínez , and a good support cast full of prestigious players giving alright performances . In 1998 Medem released " The lovers of the Polar Circle ," considered his best movie by most of his fans and is also Julio's most deeply felt picture to date . It also became a box-office hit with more than one million spectators in Spain and was also released worldwide . It is a thought-provoking film dealing with a story of solitary people , as a strange , unsettling young , well played by Fele Martinez , and his lover , subsequently suffering a sad separation , being rivetingly performed by Najwa Nimri . This is a thrilling , exciting , elusive , deliberate though magnetic drama ; it is closer to Jane Campion than Carlos Saura . It contains marvelous photography , breathtaking musical score and enjoyable production design . It is a fascinating film though sometimes a little boring , slow-pace and overlong . Anyway, the film is interesting , thematically intriguing and weird ; Medem has his own style of telling a story . Thrilling as well as distinguished musical score mirroring well the scenery, its people and the story line, it was superbly composed by several times Oscar nominated Alberto Iglesias , Julio Medem's usual . In addition , a spotless pictorial cinematography by Gonzalo F. Berridi and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space .
The motion picture was well produced by Enrique Lopez Lavigne and Fernando Bovaira and originally directed by Julio Medem . Julio has a sharp eye for human relationships and about peculiar love stories . Medem alternates various points of view , relating events from several perspectives . He can't resist games , pattern and stratagems . As he directed "Ardilla Roja" or ¨The red squirrel¨ released in 1993, it was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and it confirmed Medem's talents and won prizes in Fort Lauderdale, Bogota and Bucarest . Medem had been making short movies with a super-8 camera owned by his father until he received a call from a new production company called Sogetel and executive producers Fernando de Garcillán , José Luis Olaizola , Enrique López Lavigne . They were interested in his script titled "Vacas" . It won the Goya Award from the Spanish academy for best new director, and won prizes in the festivals of Tokyo, Torino and Alexandria. In 2001 his fourth movie, "Lucia and sex ," became a huge hit and began the career of actress Paz Vega who won the Goya for best new actress . Although in 2003 failed with the release , "The Basque ball" , a documentary that portrays the phenomenon of nationalism and terrorism in the Basque Country of northern Spain , it was very polemical and partial . In 2007 directed the flop ¨Caotica Ana¨ and in 2010 , ¨Room in Rome¨, a successful though with not sense film , filled with nudism and only starred by two gorgeous naked girls . Julio Medem is for sure one of the the most important and original Spanish filmmaker. Well worth watching if you get the chance .
Films like this are why we love cinema!
BermudezLievano23 September 2000
This is one of the best films I have seen, I could say, in my entire life. I don't usually comment if it isn't that way. The film is a masterpiece, a very strong union of every thing that we could want and ask of a film. The story is complex, yes, but it has been set for our eyes in a simple, yet involving way. Then the spectacle really begins, when you feast your eyes on the images passing in front of you. You feel the cold, the warm, the lonely, Ana, Otto, the love.... you feel the story as if it were yours, and believe me, it is. The images achieved by director Julio Medem and cinematographer Gonzalo Berridi are breathtaking, they arouse and touch you, you have the sensation of having seen all that beauty before or the contrary, of never having seen images so beautiful in your entire life, or both.
Is life a constant clash of coincidences? I don't know, but watch this film even if it's not by coincidence. You will breathe, love, think, love, see, love different afterwards. This is poetry, this is art, and this is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about cinema, and why it will always be so.
My vote?.... Would a 10/10 be enough??? I'm not sure, make that 11.
Is life a constant clash of coincidences? I don't know, but watch this film even if it's not by coincidence. You will breathe, love, think, love, see, love different afterwards. This is poetry, this is art, and this is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about cinema, and why it will always be so.
My vote?.... Would a 10/10 be enough??? I'm not sure, make that 11.
Pretty good, but falls apart near the end. 7/10
zetes24 May 2000
Warning: Spoilers
I was loving this movie for the longest time, but near the end it was trying too hard to maintain its palindromic structure. When filmmakers put style over substance, it detracts from the film.
****MILD SPOILERS****
It would have been perfect if they had just met up at the end and stayed with each other for the rest of their lives. If you think that sounds cheesy or cliched, just think to yourself what the last drama was where a couple actually fell in love and stayed there. You might say that that never happens, but this film was stressing the magical aspect of life. It would have made more sense if they had lived happily ever after at the end.
****MAJOR SPOILERS****
Besides, I'm not even 100% sure what happened at the very end of this movie. Again, the filmmaker was stressing his construction too harshly. But I'm pretty sure Ana died (and her meeting with Otto was just her dying dream). This is an incredible let down! The film still had potential to be great until the very end. There's just no payoff. Even though the characters were not particularly well developed (and they didn't need to be, really; like I said above, this film was more of a magical fairy tale than a piece of realism), I had an emotional bond with them (or more likely, with their situation). I was feeling rather elated throughout the whole movie, but after it ended, there was no feelings to be felt. I would have given it at least an 8, and maybe as high as a 9 on the imdb grading scale, but I have to give it a 7/10. It was worth watching, but it will dissolve quickly from my memory.
****MILD SPOILERS****
It would have been perfect if they had just met up at the end and stayed with each other for the rest of their lives. If you think that sounds cheesy or cliched, just think to yourself what the last drama was where a couple actually fell in love and stayed there. You might say that that never happens, but this film was stressing the magical aspect of life. It would have made more sense if they had lived happily ever after at the end.
****MAJOR SPOILERS****
Besides, I'm not even 100% sure what happened at the very end of this movie. Again, the filmmaker was stressing his construction too harshly. But I'm pretty sure Ana died (and her meeting with Otto was just her dying dream). This is an incredible let down! The film still had potential to be great until the very end. There's just no payoff. Even though the characters were not particularly well developed (and they didn't need to be, really; like I said above, this film was more of a magical fairy tale than a piece of realism), I had an emotional bond with them (or more likely, with their situation). I was feeling rather elated throughout the whole movie, but after it ended, there was no feelings to be felt. I would have given it at least an 8, and maybe as high as a 9 on the imdb grading scale, but I have to give it a 7/10. It was worth watching, but it will dissolve quickly from my memory.
Everything moves in circles (!!!SPOILERS BELOW!!!)
blackrockchick12 August 2004
Warning: Spoilers
THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW...
This is second Julio Medem film that I have seen, it is very similar in style to Lucia y el sexo, but Lovers of the artic circle touched me more, it had more of an effect on me for some reason. I rank this movie high on my list of favorites, because it was beautifully acted, shot, scored and written. It was so dream like that it is hard to tell where the real lives begin and the dreams end. The ending is the best part, again it reminded my of Lucia in that the end seemed to be sucked into a hole and altered, but the viewer is left with the choice, do the lovers live and finally complete the circle or, and this is the more likely conclusion, did they both die and meet in a Heaven of their own? The silence in the film is what makes it so perfect, the main characters do not have that much dialogue and yet, they say so much with their eyes and their gestures. I have no complaints about this film it is one of the greats. 10 out of 10.
This is second Julio Medem film that I have seen, it is very similar in style to Lucia y el sexo, but Lovers of the artic circle touched me more, it had more of an effect on me for some reason. I rank this movie high on my list of favorites, because it was beautifully acted, shot, scored and written. It was so dream like that it is hard to tell where the real lives begin and the dreams end. The ending is the best part, again it reminded my of Lucia in that the end seemed to be sucked into a hole and altered, but the viewer is left with the choice, do the lovers live and finally complete the circle or, and this is the more likely conclusion, did they both die and meet in a Heaven of their own? The silence in the film is what makes it so perfect, the main characters do not have that much dialogue and yet, they say so much with their eyes and their gestures. I have no complaints about this film it is one of the greats. 10 out of 10.
An engaging, beautiful story of passion and tragedy
bitterstranger19 November 2004
This is somehow yet another rendition of the Romeo and Juliet story, where fate and passion are the real protagonists. It is decidedly over the top, very stylish looking, very romantic and passionate, full of symbolism and metaphors, with no pretences of realism, yet it does work rather convincingly - unlike Medem's following work, Lucia y el Sexo, which also uses a magical realism style with a circular plot (even more confusing, or rather, with a lot more artificial twists and a far less clear conclusion than this one), but which I found too contrived, annoying and disappointing. Los Amantes is a stronger film, the protagonists are far more believable and engrossing, also because the fated aspect of their relationship is set up clearly from the start and there's a feeling of inevitability that manages to support the whole artifice of the plot structural symmetry.
The lead actors are very good at portraying the fragile, adolescent beauty of their story, and the supporting roles add touches of realism where needed. The settings are carefully chosen to add to the ethereal atmosphere and mythical references in the story. Perhaps it plays too much on symbols and coincidences, but that is after all what great tragic stories have always been made of. It is romantic in the epic sense of romance, managing to be emotional without cheapening emotions. In some ways the theme of fated love stories reminds me a bit of Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs series of films, but it is a lot less heavy and more enjoyable. There may be more style than
substance overall, but it's good style.
The lead actors are very good at portraying the fragile, adolescent beauty of their story, and the supporting roles add touches of realism where needed. The settings are carefully chosen to add to the ethereal atmosphere and mythical references in the story. Perhaps it plays too much on symbols and coincidences, but that is after all what great tragic stories have always been made of. It is romantic in the epic sense of romance, managing to be emotional without cheapening emotions. In some ways the theme of fated love stories reminds me a bit of Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs series of films, but it is a lot less heavy and more enjoyable. There may be more style than
substance overall, but it's good style.
a bit boring and slow
bzislz13 February 2002
I have seen all Medem´s films and I have to say he´s quite original in the treatment of plots, direction and so on, but I found this film a bit boring and too long. There was little action, it´s not that I like only action films but I felt as if it didn´t progress, everytime the same. I hope Lucia y el sexo is different because I have´nt seen it yet.
Geometric Cosmologies
tedg6 June 2006
This is so beautiful, it hurts. Tender.
It is a lacy filigree in what it is, essentially a story about longing, urges and space. But that filigree extends to the nature of the space that surrounds the story on screen. And the motion of weaving extends further to the shape of the narrative threads which present the story and urges.
Some viewers will be put off by the structure. It may seem contrived or mechanical, though hardly more so than the usual way which rigidly starts at the beginning and rolls in only one direction. To others it may seem like a lot of unnecessary work. Well, it does require some engagement, but that's the nature of poetry. And unlike "Irreversible" and "Mememto" there's more to it than merely sharing the discovery of knowing with the main character.
I'm convinced that there is a mode of storytelling, the deepest, richest, most rewarding mode... a manner of structuring narrative in such a way that we are "folded" into the story, both watching and participating.
I further believe that the most powerful of folds have geometric structure. We are after all geometric thinkers at root. We think we live in a world of shape and form and reason about that world in the same way. All this is underscored in cinema, which reshapes that real world in ways that we can handle and examine. I'll go so far as to posit that the best art has a story, a presentation of that story and an annotation of the nature of art and presentation, all using the same strokes and shapes.
Geometric folds, cosmologies, readable structure.
Medem is our current master of this. His "Sex and Lucia" goes much further than this in the complexity of structure and the circularity of urge weaving future pasts. But this has an appeal in its simplicity.
As with "Lucia" (a scrambled "Alice" story), you can start anywhere "Hopscotch" -wise and build from there on reflection after leaving the theater. Were the lovers related? Was the girlfriend his mother? Did they even ever meet on the plaza? Did he die in the trees after weaving a happy virtual life? Or was it one circular boyish ejaculation under his bed? Along the way, look for airplanes: starting with a zillion paper airplanes thrown out a window with a message so dear that it changes everyone it touches. Overlap that with the image of having the courage to come back in through the (same) window and touch someone with love.
There are a few patterns in the lace here that you will take with you for the rest of your life. And anything that can do that, and do it using the language of dreams in such a way that makes love more lucid if it can do that, you'll want to see it, handle it, co-invent with it turn it over in your mind, a golden woven solid of wires as geometric urges.
And it is so much richer if you know the story between the filmmaker and his father to whom this is dedicated. And that Medem's own son plays the boy. Start with "Lucia." Its a masterpiece. Then absorb this.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
It is a lacy filigree in what it is, essentially a story about longing, urges and space. But that filigree extends to the nature of the space that surrounds the story on screen. And the motion of weaving extends further to the shape of the narrative threads which present the story and urges.
Some viewers will be put off by the structure. It may seem contrived or mechanical, though hardly more so than the usual way which rigidly starts at the beginning and rolls in only one direction. To others it may seem like a lot of unnecessary work. Well, it does require some engagement, but that's the nature of poetry. And unlike "Irreversible" and "Mememto" there's more to it than merely sharing the discovery of knowing with the main character.
I'm convinced that there is a mode of storytelling, the deepest, richest, most rewarding mode... a manner of structuring narrative in such a way that we are "folded" into the story, both watching and participating.
I further believe that the most powerful of folds have geometric structure. We are after all geometric thinkers at root. We think we live in a world of shape and form and reason about that world in the same way. All this is underscored in cinema, which reshapes that real world in ways that we can handle and examine. I'll go so far as to posit that the best art has a story, a presentation of that story and an annotation of the nature of art and presentation, all using the same strokes and shapes.
Geometric folds, cosmologies, readable structure.
Medem is our current master of this. His "Sex and Lucia" goes much further than this in the complexity of structure and the circularity of urge weaving future pasts. But this has an appeal in its simplicity.
As with "Lucia" (a scrambled "Alice" story), you can start anywhere "Hopscotch" -wise and build from there on reflection after leaving the theater. Were the lovers related? Was the girlfriend his mother? Did they even ever meet on the plaza? Did he die in the trees after weaving a happy virtual life? Or was it one circular boyish ejaculation under his bed? Along the way, look for airplanes: starting with a zillion paper airplanes thrown out a window with a message so dear that it changes everyone it touches. Overlap that with the image of having the courage to come back in through the (same) window and touch someone with love.
There are a few patterns in the lace here that you will take with you for the rest of your life. And anything that can do that, and do it using the language of dreams in such a way that makes love more lucid if it can do that, you'll want to see it, handle it, co-invent with it turn it over in your mind, a golden woven solid of wires as geometric urges.
And it is so much richer if you know the story between the filmmaker and his father to whom this is dedicated. And that Medem's own son plays the boy. Start with "Lucia." Its a masterpiece. Then absorb this.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
In love of outside locations
chechurisk26 September 2005
Since I saw the Spanish film "The Lover's of the Arctic Circle", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133363/ , I was in love of Rovaniemi and Lapponia. (The outside locations of that movie were filmed there) In the film appears a hut whom it's traversed by the Arctic Circle line (painted in the wooden floor). My favorite scene is when a girl sleep down, waiting for her lover, by the shore of a great lake. The sun is hiding down, but the sunset never comes: yes, this is the Arctic Circle :)
Great, great, great, film...
about luck and destiny
Great, great, great, film...
about luck and destiny
Casualties
gbx0621 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I have seen this movie five times and none of those the story has lost its magic, the chance of love between Otto and Ana turns out to be a whole odyssey that leads us to think about fate that so much importance and influence has in our life. The exciting about this tale is that this is something that could happen to anyone in his life because love itself is an enormous coincidence between two human beings: coincide in time and space, and set in each other.
The plot posed by Julio Medem is shocking, surround and intriguing, anyone as a viewer is trapped by everything that happens along the entire life of both characters and is moved by the tragic outcome of the lovers in the title's Arctic Circle, ending sealed by the destination, such as Romeo would say in the history of Shakespeare, makes them become in simple toys of life.
Unfortunately the film has some technical details that tarnished the mastery of story and remain the value of certain scenes, some examples are when Otto is pilot or the sleigh accident. Details that could have been more careful and they have helped to strengthen what it is. Similarly, there are some inconsistencies in the screenplay that make see exaggerated and forced some situations presented, because there are casualties to casualties.
A good love story, well played and well directed, a good example of Spanish cinema.
The plot posed by Julio Medem is shocking, surround and intriguing, anyone as a viewer is trapped by everything that happens along the entire life of both characters and is moved by the tragic outcome of the lovers in the title's Arctic Circle, ending sealed by the destination, such as Romeo would say in the history of Shakespeare, makes them become in simple toys of life.
Unfortunately the film has some technical details that tarnished the mastery of story and remain the value of certain scenes, some examples are when Otto is pilot or the sleigh accident. Details that could have been more careful and they have helped to strengthen what it is. Similarly, there are some inconsistencies in the screenplay that make see exaggerated and forced some situations presented, because there are casualties to casualties.
A good love story, well played and well directed, a good example of Spanish cinema.
Flawed Medem masterpiece - too much air, not enough earth. (possible spoiler)
alice liddell19 January 2000
Warning: Spoilers
Julio Medem's brilliant films thrive on enigma, obfuscation, tease and irresolution. LOVERS is his most playful yet, because it seems his most lucid. There is the usual pattern of proliferating doubles, connection of motifs, bending of time; yet, rather than confuse or complicate like before, each separate entity seems thrusting towards the linear, Unified Whole of the conclusion, which is satisfying in an old-fashioned romantic way, until it too is irreversibly, indeterminately split.
The plot is Medem's simplest yet: two young children, Otto and Ana, are brought together by the affair between their parents which eventually grows into marriage. Otto continues to live with his mother, but increasing love for Ana causes him to move in with his dad so they can enjoy furtive lovemaking. Otto's mother, presumably ins reaction to a double abandonment, commits suicide; depressed, Otto tries to do likewise, fails, and leaves Ana and his family to become an air-messenger pilot. After a failed relationship with an old teacher, Ana goes to Lapland to live in a cabin owned by the father of her mother's new lover. A series of extraordinary coincidences seem to bring Ana back to Otto.
Anyone who has seen a Medem film will know what to expect: surface realistic observation is rejected in favour of an excessive formalism, artifice and patterning that allows access to greater emotional truths. The doubling is astonishing - male/female, mother/father, son/daughter, sister/brother, earth/air, North/South, death/rebirth, lost/found, concealment/revelation etc. Two halves should make one whole, but it never does in a Medem film, leading only to further fragmentation. The two main leads are played by three different actors each, leading to a triple splitting of self which is further underscored both by the permanancy of the actors playing their parents, and by the different actors playing them slipping into the wrong time frame, e.g. the young Otto appearing in the adolescent Otto's plot.
Further dislocation occurs in the formal patterning of repetition and coincidence. The same scenes are repeated in different historical moments with different characters. The same events feature different protagonists, depending on the subjectivity of the teller. The main formal device is to have each lead tell in turn the story, but instead of clarifying, this only further confuses, because each sees differently from the other. Medem then undermines this obvious truth by showing a kind of innate bond between Otto and Ana: the palandromic fact of their names, the way each uses the other as a representation of a beloved dead parent etc. And yet again, THIS is denied in the film's most excruciating scene, where, years apart from each other, the two finally occupy the same space at a few feet's distance, on a cafe piazza, and fail to realise.
There is no such thing as a key to Medem, as his labyrinths are Theseus-proof, but the opening credits bear close scrutiny, revealing images of fragmentation - the crashed plane - and rupture, and an intimation of subjectivity that drives the film. LOVERS' ending suggests that it is Ana's striving for wholeness, after the ultimate dislocation - death. This reading, though, is questioned throughout - how, for instance, do we account for Otto's voiceover. We are forced to question how much of what we see is, if not literally plausible, than related. Most importantly, it makes us question the past, a history, and how it's told.
Medem's films, especially VACAS, are concerned with the difference between literal history, as told by the winners, and the messy, interior, emotional history of people as they live. VACAS featured a character named Peru, the name of Medem's son to whom TIERRA was dedicated, and who stars here as the young Otto. LOVERS is dedicated to Medem's father. The film is obsessed, like VACAS and, to a lesser extent, TIERRA, with family relationships, with tradition and continuity, with a saga that seem linear (generation follows generation) but is actually circular, as the past is continually replayed and distorted in the present.
A crucial subplot here is the meeting of Otto's grandfather with a Nazi bomber during the Guernica atrocity, an act that reverberates throughout the film, and touches, for good or ill, every character. The duality of the film is linked to the duality that split Spain apart throughout and after the Civil War. Another historical layer is linked to Medem's own work, as I outlined above, issues of continuity, which include style, cast, doubling, scenes (especially that of a photographer capturing his family), animals with supernatural powers, unresolved, or a proliferation of, endings; as well as discontinuities (e.g. for the first time, no Emma Suarez).
For all its brilliance, this is my least favourite Medem film. It spends a little too much time in the air - its matrix of meaning is not as grounded in the blood and earth of his previous work. This is probably linked to the acting. In the earlier films the almost naturalistic truth of the actors clashed fertilely with the formal artifice. Here, the callow acting of the leads fails to achieve this, leaving one a little unsatisfied. The older stars are magnificent, though, especially Medem regular Nancho Novo, the loveliest man on film; his OWN abandonment is heartwrenching. There is also a great deal less comedy than previously, again, I fear, due to the acting. These are serious quibbles, but ultimately irrelevant - this is easily the best film around at the moment.
The plot is Medem's simplest yet: two young children, Otto and Ana, are brought together by the affair between their parents which eventually grows into marriage. Otto continues to live with his mother, but increasing love for Ana causes him to move in with his dad so they can enjoy furtive lovemaking. Otto's mother, presumably ins reaction to a double abandonment, commits suicide; depressed, Otto tries to do likewise, fails, and leaves Ana and his family to become an air-messenger pilot. After a failed relationship with an old teacher, Ana goes to Lapland to live in a cabin owned by the father of her mother's new lover. A series of extraordinary coincidences seem to bring Ana back to Otto.
Anyone who has seen a Medem film will know what to expect: surface realistic observation is rejected in favour of an excessive formalism, artifice and patterning that allows access to greater emotional truths. The doubling is astonishing - male/female, mother/father, son/daughter, sister/brother, earth/air, North/South, death/rebirth, lost/found, concealment/revelation etc. Two halves should make one whole, but it never does in a Medem film, leading only to further fragmentation. The two main leads are played by three different actors each, leading to a triple splitting of self which is further underscored both by the permanancy of the actors playing their parents, and by the different actors playing them slipping into the wrong time frame, e.g. the young Otto appearing in the adolescent Otto's plot.
Further dislocation occurs in the formal patterning of repetition and coincidence. The same scenes are repeated in different historical moments with different characters. The same events feature different protagonists, depending on the subjectivity of the teller. The main formal device is to have each lead tell in turn the story, but instead of clarifying, this only further confuses, because each sees differently from the other. Medem then undermines this obvious truth by showing a kind of innate bond between Otto and Ana: the palandromic fact of their names, the way each uses the other as a representation of a beloved dead parent etc. And yet again, THIS is denied in the film's most excruciating scene, where, years apart from each other, the two finally occupy the same space at a few feet's distance, on a cafe piazza, and fail to realise.
There is no such thing as a key to Medem, as his labyrinths are Theseus-proof, but the opening credits bear close scrutiny, revealing images of fragmentation - the crashed plane - and rupture, and an intimation of subjectivity that drives the film. LOVERS' ending suggests that it is Ana's striving for wholeness, after the ultimate dislocation - death. This reading, though, is questioned throughout - how, for instance, do we account for Otto's voiceover. We are forced to question how much of what we see is, if not literally plausible, than related. Most importantly, it makes us question the past, a history, and how it's told.
Medem's films, especially VACAS, are concerned with the difference between literal history, as told by the winners, and the messy, interior, emotional history of people as they live. VACAS featured a character named Peru, the name of Medem's son to whom TIERRA was dedicated, and who stars here as the young Otto. LOVERS is dedicated to Medem's father. The film is obsessed, like VACAS and, to a lesser extent, TIERRA, with family relationships, with tradition and continuity, with a saga that seem linear (generation follows generation) but is actually circular, as the past is continually replayed and distorted in the present.
A crucial subplot here is the meeting of Otto's grandfather with a Nazi bomber during the Guernica atrocity, an act that reverberates throughout the film, and touches, for good or ill, every character. The duality of the film is linked to the duality that split Spain apart throughout and after the Civil War. Another historical layer is linked to Medem's own work, as I outlined above, issues of continuity, which include style, cast, doubling, scenes (especially that of a photographer capturing his family), animals with supernatural powers, unresolved, or a proliferation of, endings; as well as discontinuities (e.g. for the first time, no Emma Suarez).
For all its brilliance, this is my least favourite Medem film. It spends a little too much time in the air - its matrix of meaning is not as grounded in the blood and earth of his previous work. This is probably linked to the acting. In the earlier films the almost naturalistic truth of the actors clashed fertilely with the formal artifice. Here, the callow acting of the leads fails to achieve this, leaving one a little unsatisfied. The older stars are magnificent, though, especially Medem regular Nancho Novo, the loveliest man on film; his OWN abandonment is heartwrenching. There is also a great deal less comedy than previously, again, I fear, due to the acting. These are serious quibbles, but ultimately irrelevant - this is easily the best film around at the moment.
Strikingly beautiful film
Smass8023 November 1999
Lovers of the Arctic Circle is a Spanish film about two lovers, Otto and Ana, who meet by chance as kids, split as adults, only to have one more chance at love in the end. It's a movie about coincidences and circles involved in someone's life and unfolds like a good Spanish book. I wasn't sure if it was a movie that could hold my attention at 3 a.m., but this one sure did thanks to a quick editing style and a fast paced love story with some wonderful transitions that put to good use the visual medium of film. Recurring images, both verbal and written, run through the film like symbols in a book and these are used to emphasize the coincidences - the caribou, the concept of circles (arctic), concept of mortality, planes, names, occupations, near car crashes, and fuel. There are striking uses of fades and cuts - most memorable is the scene where Ana is almost killed by a sleigh falling from a tree - she looks up, sees the sled as it comes down, closes her eyes, the camera fades to black, then she opens them, still looking up, then looks down to see the sled in the snow beside her. Another nicely setup scene is the flashback to where Ana's father dies - while never actually SHOWING her father, it shows us behind the wheel of what we presume to be a sports car (engine roaring) as it passes a big truck. We see an oncoming truck and anticipate the accleration, but then the engine sputters and the camera looks down at the instrument panel, then we cut to the fuel guage reading empty as we hear the truck blare its horn and the guage's glass crack. Wow. Here's another one: Ana's mom Olga is in the front seat of a nice looking car (I'm presuming a Volvo) telling the kids that their father is busy. There is a cut to the back seat of the kids, still under 10, as they look on. In a repeat of an earlier near car crash, we watch from the back seat as a bus pulls in front of the car. "Changes happened overnight" is the voice over as she slams the brakes. We cut back to the kids who are pitched forward by the brakes, then back to their seats, suddenly as teenagers. Whoa. Helped by a wonderfully thought out script, this film propels us into the lives of the two young lovers as they journey through self-discovery and growing up from their first meeting to their anticipated reunion after splitting up many moons before. Moving between the viewpoints of both Otto and Ana, we are given insight as to how the two lovers view the situations and each other. It's a good device, but can get confusing to someone who isn't paying attention. I had to watch the film twice to catch all the recurring symbols and images and I'm still not sure I caught them all. Also, I loved the way the film is set up where the opening shot is of the downed plane and the opening scenes are of a grieving Ana, which sets up the conclusion. If I have a complaint about the film is that the conclusion, though well written, falls somewhat flat because the acting falters and it's almost played too comically in tone for the rest of the film - and it jars too much between serious and comic. Still, the acting and writing really work well in a unique visual style that really made good use of subjective camera.
One of the greatest of all time.
Simckes20 February 2003
This is one of the greatest love stories of all time. Medem has truly created something astounding and innovative. This film is truly one of the best films ever made. I also suggest viewing IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. These are my two favorite cinema love stories.
A good film that can hardly fail to disappoint
Spleen23 December 2000
There IS something magic about the Arctic Circle. (Can you imagine anything good entitled "Lovers of the Tropic of Capricorn"? Of course not.) And this IS an interesting film. That's my problem, really. An enchanting story, an unenchanting film: something obviously went wrong.
How many films have you seen in which friends, allies, lovers, etc. have been within striking distance of one another without realising it? It's an irritating device, isn't it? Here are Otto and Ana, sitting back to back at an outdoor café. Look! Otto turns his head thirty degrees. WILL he catch her in his peripheral vision? No, false alarm. Now Ana is distracted by some sound or other. She glances around. WILL she notice Otto ... almost there ... no, didn't make it. Now Otto scratches his elbow. WILL he... Bah. There's a limit to how much of this contrived suspense I can take, especially when, in the end, it leads nowhere.
Now is the time to stop reading if you haven't seen the film... But what takes the cake is the ending. The merciless, gloating torture to which Medem subjects his characters in the café scene is nothing compared to this. Okay: so Ana is in Finland, Otto knows that Ana is in Finland, and Ana knows that Otto knows that Ana is in Finland. How long can it take to bring them together? As long as Medem can keep the cameras running, it seems. I've never seen such a protracted denouement. If that were all, though, I could yet forgive him...
So, DO they meet in the end? I've spent some time thinking about it and I still have no idea. They end up in the same place, but we've just seen how many times THAT can happen without result. My GUESS is that Ana dies. I can't see why Otto (the Spaniard) would calmly wait in Otto's (the Fin's) kitchen afterwards while Ana's life was hanging in the balance; so probably that entire sequence DIDN'T really happen, after all. In any event, I don't see the POINT of all this uncertainty. Why not just tell us what happens? That is, after all, what story-tellers are meant to do; it's what Medem had in fact been doing all along before he decided to get clever. (But note that if Ana dies, we have every right to feel sour, after sitting through an hour of when-will-they-finally-meet-up beforehand. Medem made us an implicit promise, and broke it.)
I'm glad I saw it, and there are moments of pleasure. But it's as if Medem injected a good dose of quinine into the story simply in order to prevent us from getting TOO much pleasure. It's hard not to be haunted with a sense of how much better it could have been.
How many films have you seen in which friends, allies, lovers, etc. have been within striking distance of one another without realising it? It's an irritating device, isn't it? Here are Otto and Ana, sitting back to back at an outdoor café. Look! Otto turns his head thirty degrees. WILL he catch her in his peripheral vision? No, false alarm. Now Ana is distracted by some sound or other. She glances around. WILL she notice Otto ... almost there ... no, didn't make it. Now Otto scratches his elbow. WILL he... Bah. There's a limit to how much of this contrived suspense I can take, especially when, in the end, it leads nowhere.
Now is the time to stop reading if you haven't seen the film... But what takes the cake is the ending. The merciless, gloating torture to which Medem subjects his characters in the café scene is nothing compared to this. Okay: so Ana is in Finland, Otto knows that Ana is in Finland, and Ana knows that Otto knows that Ana is in Finland. How long can it take to bring them together? As long as Medem can keep the cameras running, it seems. I've never seen such a protracted denouement. If that were all, though, I could yet forgive him...
So, DO they meet in the end? I've spent some time thinking about it and I still have no idea. They end up in the same place, but we've just seen how many times THAT can happen without result. My GUESS is that Ana dies. I can't see why Otto (the Spaniard) would calmly wait in Otto's (the Fin's) kitchen afterwards while Ana's life was hanging in the balance; so probably that entire sequence DIDN'T really happen, after all. In any event, I don't see the POINT of all this uncertainty. Why not just tell us what happens? That is, after all, what story-tellers are meant to do; it's what Medem had in fact been doing all along before he decided to get clever. (But note that if Ana dies, we have every right to feel sour, after sitting through an hour of when-will-they-finally-meet-up beforehand. Medem made us an implicit promise, and broke it.)
I'm glad I saw it, and there are moments of pleasure. But it's as if Medem injected a good dose of quinine into the story simply in order to prevent us from getting TOO much pleasure. It's hard not to be haunted with a sense of how much better it could have been.
Coincidence Explained
Brazos27 June 1999
In a wellspring of seeming coincidence two lovers are united.
This movie was the most fabulous "love story" I have ever witnessed/ it culminates in a circular ending that qualifies the beginning and leaves questions answered and yet answers all questions. This is the paradox of perspective and the crux of the picture.
This movie was the most fabulous "love story" I have ever witnessed/ it culminates in a circular ending that qualifies the beginning and leaves questions answered and yet answers all questions. This is the paradox of perspective and the crux of the picture.
A beautiful mess of a movie
=G=8 June 2001
"Lovers of the Arctic Circle" tells the love story of Ana and Otto from childhood into adult life with a carefully crafted precision which makes a simple romantic tale an inordinately complex jigsaw puzzle. An example of a high-minded director's selfgratifying egocentric palindromic production which forsakes the audience, "Lovers..." is a beautiful film wanting for almost nothing except coherence. Recommended for those into over-the-top Europics.
I just didn't like it.
Joel Cairo16 September 1999
Unlike all the other comments here i didn't like it. This movie just didn't seem to get a grip on me. I found the Ana/Otto narrative boring, and didn't care much for the characters. The whole coincidence theme was very much to my dislike.
It was a very long sit thru this one.
It was a very long sit thru this one.
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