Les amants du cercle polaire

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.

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.

"Lovers Of The Arctic Circle" When "Map Of The Human Heart" is one of my favorite movies, I can't fault this film for almost stealing the entire concept. A Spanish language film about two children who meet at school and fall in love with each other. Through the years, the two manage to carry out a sexual relationship even as their respective parents marry each other and outside forces try to separate them. The rest of the film is nearly a scene by scene recreation of 1993's "Map". But I stress that I liked this film. Cinematographer Gonzalo F. Berridi and Director Julio Medem make a very specific effort to make their film visually memorable. Some of the shots on display here are breathtaking. Leads Najwa Nimri and Fele Martinez do a wonderful job as the two lovers. Their scenes of courtship are fascinating to watch and Medem sharply chooses to show both sides of the story. By understanding the two perspectives on this plot, the film is that much more satisfying. I enjoyed this story. I applaud the effort the filmmakers made to not tell this story in any way I might have suspected. It's a slippery slope when it comes to melodramatic romance, yet the film is graceful and competent. ---------------- 8

Ana and Otto met when they were children. She was running in the woods after hearing of her father's death; he was running to get a football. When they met, he fell for her immediately and she could see her dead father inside him. Sadly coincidences lead her mother to fall in love with his father and, before long, they are brother and sister. Over the years though, their affection grows and they begin a relationship that is so secret that they barely know it themselves. In this circle of love and life, strange things occur that they see from different perspectives.

This film is the sort of foreign art-house cinema that will make some viewers pull their hair or fall asleep with boredom, so maybe be careful if you are the type of viewer more at home with Porky's rather than anything cerebral; but for everyone else this strange yet engaging film is well worth a look. The plot is about a stepbrother and sister who are sort of in love but to just describe it as that is to do it an injustice. It is much more than that, not all necessarily good, but all interesting enough to watch. The plot movies in little circles – like their names, it has a palindromic effect with one large circle and lots of little ones within; it is very smartly written and I did enjoy it for this. This doesn't help the heart of the film though, and at times I did find it very cold and uninvolving – the characters weren't really real enough and I found the coincidences to actually stop the story being moving and occasionally did make it feel gimmicky. It is also knowingly weird at times and that also put me off; but the overall effect is good.

The cast are little more than players within this tricky little film and, as such, they mainly struggle to deliver real characters. Ono and Anna are played pretty flat and cold but it is at least good that they were played consistently over the generation jumps and each acting partnership. It is not really their fault because the film is more interested in the ironies of the circling life and coincidences rather than getting to the heart of the characters – they try hard but this is not a film to watch for strong acting performances.

Overall this is a good film but one that may leave many viewers cold and unimpressed by the gimmicks; however many others will be won over by the clever delivery that is filled with mini circles within circles all within the overall palindrome of the total product. At times the cold telling is a bit distracting and the coincidences are not as deep as the film would have us believe but generally it is worth a shot and is a memorable little film.

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.