mOVie friDAy.07 | LOs AmaNTes ...

+ Lovers of the Arctic Circle (original title: Los amantes del círculo polar) is a romantic epic by spanish director Julio Medem. I saw it as soon as it was released in 1998.

Its unique love story, embracing and celebrating destiny and coincidence as a motif, made a strong impression on me. I like Medem's work in general and would definitely put this film among his most powerful ones. 

++ The film is circular in plot and it follows a seventeen-year journey through the lives of Otto(Fele Martínez) and Ana (Najwa Nimrj).

They meet first as children in a difficult moment of their life: Ana just lost her dad and Otto witnesses his parents divorce. For him meeting Ana is love at first sight, but he never dares to tell her anything during their drive to school. Later they their friendly relationship takes a turn toward love (therefore taboo) when Otto’s single father and Ana’s single mother decide to get married. Ignoring this minor societal obstacle, Otto and Ana continue their clandestine relationship until circumstances begin to pull them apart.

He will become a plane pilot flying between Spain and the Arctic Circle. Ana will coincidentally moves to the same area to leave behind her past and past lovers.

They seem then to be able to get in touch again in this somehow extreem geographic location: the polar circle. Unfortunately, this time circumstances will play them a bad trick. A freak accident will happen under the midnight sun exactly in the moment when they find eachother.

Told by Ana's point of view, she and Otto are reunited, and in Otto's point of view, Ana dies.

+++ The film was nominated for four Goya Awards and won for Best Editing and Best Original Score. Julio Medem also received the Audience Award at the 2000 Athens International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Latin Film at the Gramado Film Festival. The film also won an Ondas Award for Best Spanish Film and Najwa Nimri won for Best Actress.

+++ Los Amantes del Circulo Polar is a touching story, shifting from realitic to surreal, with all themes dear to Medem’s universe (that can be also find in his other works) such as love, death, destiny, nature, the circle of life and the coincidences in life.

One can not ask oneself about the meaning of destiny, its unexplainable laws.

Interesting to notice, the names of characters Otto and Ana are both palindrome, thus readable from both ends, as Medem's name is.


                                        {  photos source : 1, 2 ,3, 4, 5 ,6 , 7, 8 & 9  }

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