Los amantes del Círculo Polar

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.

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.

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

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.

This is one of those films that the less you know about it the better-- but GO SEE IT. This is one of the most romantic movies I've ever seen. It's a really magical, intricate, intense and beautiful film.

This film is also very hard to describe. You flip/flop from one perspective to another, learning what the events of the movie MEAN to each character. The connections are so intricate and complex, the visual storytelling so compelling, I was just blown away by this film, and I felt the rest of the audience was right there with me.

If you've seen and liked THE LOVER you'll like this-- it's one of those slow, languid, dreamy and beautiful movies about a true love that lasts beyond all circumstances. It's so intense one almost swoons watching it. The only other thing it reminded me of was the novel THE WHITE HOTEL. I know I sound like a huge flake, but I'm not! GO see this-- and try not to hear too much about it. You'll be converted. Really an EXPERIENCE. I'm saying it's the best of 1999 so far-- and I doubt I'll see anything better. GO! Now! Take a loved one!

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