Km. 0

Picture a romantic sex comedy as it might have been codirected by Frank Capra and Pedro Almodóvar, and you'll have a vague idea of the kind of quirky confection Serrano and Iborra have cooked up.

Iborra introduced the screening I saw in April 2001 at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. He said he got the idea for "Km. 0" while standing in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, watching different combinations of people meet up at the plaza's famous zero-kilometer mark. This engaging, surprising, very funny and sentimental ensemble piece follows more than a dozen such characters of varying ages, professions and sexual orientations as their stories cross and separate over the course of one day.

My only gripe: the plot twist at the end seems unecessarily corny, though admittedly it's not at odds with what we saw earlier in the film. On the whole, "Km. 0" is worth seeing.

This hilarious and hip farce follows the 14 strangers of various classes, ages and sexual preferences, each of whom has a date with the other at 6 PM at Km. 0 (the exact center) of Madrid. The heat is unbearable (hint- metaphor). After a romp through the most outrageous (and comical) situations between 6 PM and the proverbial midnight hour (another metaphor), each will find the person/significant other he/she wants. This ideal companion may change (even a few times) during the course of the evening. But by midnight, Mr. or Ms. Right may not be the original date.

So, the plot's not too original...perhaps too many corny metaphors? But that only adds to the satirical appeal of this farce. Its real forte' are the ingenious situations, the linkage of the characters, and the location for absolutely screwball, sexual, and crass humor, which only a tolerant and modern Latin European capital affords. Great comedy!

Low-budget and light, KM 0 is - nonetheless - a refreshing blend of drama and romantic comedy. Combining a sprawling Altman-size cast, a touch of Almodovar camp, and a Frank Capra sweetness, the film follows the interaction and evolving connections between 14 strangers from various backgrounds who all share a coincidental meeting place at the center of Madrid, during a highly symbolic heat wave. The varied situations they find themselves in are fairly cut-and-dried at first, but each evolves in an unusual direction, and at least a few of the characters (the younger gay man, the middle aged woman) are quite fascinating and endearing. This attention to detail elevates this charming but messy film above the usual romantic comedy, and the Capra-esquire twist near the film's end was pleasantly unexpected. With the exception of the middle-aged woman, I found the male characters to be much more well developed. The fact that a couple of the women preserve connections to men who treat them badly seemed highly unnecessary - though perhaps realistic, it didn't really work as a critique of sexual politics, and this threw a sour note into an otherwise breezy and pleasant film.

But overall there's plenty of charm here, and I found KM 0 to be mostly a treat.

This is a completely entertaining, hilariously funny, film. The story revolves around a series of coincidences and mistaken identities among an attractive group of Madrilenos of varied ages and sexual inclinations on a scorching summer day. While the plot, as such, is completely ridiculous and fairly predictible, the performances are uniformly terrific, and there are some very amusing twists and turns on the way to the foregone conclusion. Well worth seeing, much more genuinely amusing than most Hollywood attempts at romantic comedy.

This film is a delight and somewhat of a surprise for its frank treatment of all kinds of sexual relationships. Each character has his or her unique adventure seeking companionship,love, or excitement during one steamy afternoon and evening in Madrid, the unifying element being the meetings at the kilometer zero marker in one of the city's plazas, from which distances to other locations in Spain are measured. There are various mishaps ranging from mistaken identities to a minor auto accident. Everything has a delightfully light touch, and this viewer empathized easily with all the characters in their amorous adventures, ranging from the neglected middle-aged wife who hires a gigolo to the young backpacker who wants to help a prostitute gain more self-confidence. The use of a wallet photograph to establish a crucial identity reminds one of Restoration comedies in which a portrait in a locket is so important to the plot. In so many ways Km.0 is very traditional and in other ways, as in its frank depiction of a variety of sexual relationships, very modern. My one criticism of the film is the relegation of Tristan Ulloa to a role in which the talents he displayed in Sex and Lucia are not utilized.