Krámpack

Nico travels from Barcelona to visit his friend Dani at his summer home. Dani's parents are away. The two teenagers, like all teenage boys share their interest in the physical aspects of sex. Dani becomes more than casually curious with regard to his friend, Nico. Nico does not quite get the picture, nor does Dani for that matter. Dani becomes displeased with Nico's persistent attempts to seduce a girl. The outcome of this summer experience is that both boys discover something about their own particular erotic inclinations. Nico's straight preference is unmoved by Dani's obvious physical desire and attraction to him. Dani confirms his own preference for other males in a kind of "half way" encounter with an attractive young male friend of his father. Nico returns to Barcelona. The two part as friends, their friendship apparently unaffected by their different sexual preferences. This film is warm and entertaining and a sensitive and respectful meditation on human sexuality and human development. In all honesty, I cannot agree with those who compare this film to "Beautiful Thing." In "Nico and Dani" there is no pathos, just experience. There is no real sadness or depression, just a normal struggle to find one's own self. That is the happy ending of Nico and Dani. They part as friends, each having discovered, without ambivalence, their true sexual selves.

Teen age sexual awakening is at the center of "Krampack". This tremendously frank account of a summer in the lives of two friends who are spending their summer vacation in the home of one of them in Spain. The film proves to be a winner because it presents a situation from the point of view of the young men, instead of from judgmental adults.

Gay Cesc, the Catalan film director, made a good movie about how sex plays a key part in the lives of the two young school mates. The film is made even better by the no-nonsense approach Mr. Cesc gives the film.

Fernando Ramallo is Dani and Jordi Vilches is Nico. While Nico wants it to be the summer where he loses his virginity, Dani has problems of his own as he discovers that he is attracted to men and has to struggle with his new discovery. Both these young actors are totally believable, giving excellent performances, wisely shaped by Mr. Cesc's direction.

This is a refreshing look at a thorny issue, which the director handles with total frankness.

The really attractive aspect of this movie is the sympathy for all the characters, not just the two boys who form the mainspring of the action. This covers familiar territory - adolescent growing pains, sexuality, friendships, etc - without once being condescending. I showed to this to a Thai friend and his comment was simply, 'this is a true story. it happens to so many boys in Thailand" Not just in Thailand I might add. The film is fluent, unsensational and quite superbly acted in a very naturalistic style. It is more explicit than the not dissimilar Amice Per la Pelle (Friends for Life) from Italy, but in a similar league. I won't bother with the details of the story since many reviews cover them: but the person who found it offensive and only about sex must have seen another movie. This is a film about growing up, about real relationships boasting super locations, tender moments, a few amusing ones and above all no false emotions. BB

The film is just a story, but it's very, very good storytelling, and I'd be hard-pressed to explain why it's so good. It has to do partly with the fact that at first we think we know right where it's going, and that the worth will be in how it gets there -- we're amused by Nico's interest in girls, he's obviously gay (right?). What makes the Dani and Nico characters so believable is in the handling of the material, and the very smart decision to not really define anything. It's very realistic about the first sex between boys, and how it so often has to do with sex games (here, masturbation tips).

Before we have a clearer handle on the (differing) sexuality of the two characters, their sex seems to play like this: they see girls, they get aroused, and they take out their sexual frustration on each other. And that works because of the two characters' subtle manner -- Dani's creepy preening, Nico's goofy charm, and how at first it's Nico who seems to be the most "gay" of the two boys, simply because he has precise features and is abnormally skinny. (Like "Edge of Seventeen" or "Beautiful Thing," two of the best gay self-discovery films, the boys here look real.) The emotions, and the past histories of the characters -- like the man whose house Dani goes to, or the woman who, too, had a special girl friend when she was young -- are kept appropriately inexact.

Aside from the talent at passing along this story, there is also a nice feel the film has -- something like a cross between the accessibility of a Western and the human interest of Ingmar Bergman... It's like a funky road trip, with that harmonica music and the very apt photography, as well as the suggestive intertitles of dialogue that will occur later in the film. A comparison between this and "Y tu Mama Tambien," of the following year, would not be in vain. 8/10

This delightful film, which the Spanish seem to excel at making, just looks at a section of life of two teenage boys sharing a summer together. Good friends, they are at an age where their hormones dictate what they are doing and Nico, who thinks he's much more macho and attractive than he is, wants to lose his virginity before he reaches 17. Very cute Dani likes his friend's company and like many teenage boys discovering their sexuality, these two masturbate each other when female company is lacking. However, two girls Elena and Berta turn up at the beautiful little coastal town and Nico's interest is piqued. Dani, who feels a deep attraction for his friend wants to spend more time with Nico and resents the interference of the girls presence. It's a summer of learning and acceptance for him that he is gay. The acting is superb, so natural and human. Many European films capture this humanity that American films find it difficult to do, because the latter are generally ruled by making money, not for the art form. In Nico and Dani no judgments are ever made, no sensitivities hidden or prejudices espoused, just the sincere and objective exploration of the human condition shown as natural as it occurs in life. People are people, not ridiculous super-heroes in contrived situations. There is also a maturity in European films, with excellent acting that draws you to believe these things are really happening, and the audience is expected to be a mature one too. It's a fresh, happy little film, well photographed and the subject matter intelligently handled. I recommend it.