Lovers of the Arctic Circle

A very beautiful and heartbreaking romance. The tone throughout is melacholy with a twist of whimsy... what comes to mind for me is Jeunet meets Kieslowski. The circle of coincidences teeters on the edge of over-quirkiness, but just barely lands on the safe side. Other clever touches, like the shifting narrative viewpoint and the mysterious paper airplane message, work just fine. Very nicely shot and acted as well.

I expected more. There may be more to find on re-watching, but I don't find this movie worth watching again. I did not see coincidences and "circles" as much as characters who repeat themselves and never move forward. Some parts near the beginning were interesting and reminded me of the excellent oblique and tragic storytelling of Toto the Hero. Toward the middle I stopped caring and the ending was an eye-roller for me.

ask, üvey kardes, bosanma, tanisma, kagittan uçak, mastürbasyon, anne -babanin cinsel iliskisini izlemek, ispanya, finlandiya, otto-ana, kavusamayan asiklar,anne ölümü (çok rahatsiz edici cinsellik içeren sahneler var. Topunun pesinden kosan Otto, annesinden kaçan Ana ile karsilasir ve ona asik olur. Ebeveynleri bosanan Otto'nun babasi Ana'nin annesiyle yakinlasir. Ana ve Otto onlarin evliligiyle üvey kardes olur. RAHATSIZ EDİCİ.

Beautifully shot and cleverly constructed (with the subjective POVs and the, well, circular structure), "Los Amantes del Círculo Polar" can be too idealistic but it's nevertheless a touching and carefully observed (I particularly enjoyed the Oedipus complex angle) love tale. Still, it was often too starry-eyed for me and, in the final 30', Medem switched from pleasant romanticism to all-out manipulation, forcing a tragic finish and way overplaying the 'coincidences'.

FFD's "Jeunet meets Kieslowski" is on-point, but this doesn't really work in my opinion. It feels like a cheap, watered-down, thrown-together version of both sensibilities, and I'd say the film does in fact nosedive right into over-quirkiness, gets really cutesy. Also I couldn't take the lead actor seriously, and didn't much like the lead actress either. I just generally found it very contrived and unconvincing; however, it has an intriguing opening half-hour+ and some striking shots.

A love story expressed like a dance, but the melancholic end hurts

(...)Julio Medem hat sich für einen Film entschieden, der ein Palindrome darstellt. Es ist die Geschichte von "Ana" und "Otto" (natürlich vor- als auch rückwärts). Das Leben von Ana und genauso das von Otto funktioniert genauso. Die Ereignisse des Anfangs spiegeln sich gegen Ende. Alles kehrt wieder.(...)

(2nd viewing, 1st:85)

it's formulated pretty well and i liked the writing and direction, problem is that the last minute or so basically ruined it. up until the ending i'd give it about an 82-ish, but as is it turns out to be a considerably less enjoyable experience.

People of Copenhagen: Go see this film this august (2010) in Cinemateket - especially if you don't know much about Spanish films apart from Almodovar. This is one the finest, and you will probably recognize some of the actors in leading roles, as they are often used and you have probably seen them in other good films.

Kesisen hikayeler her zaman ki gibi insanlarin gozunu guzel boyamis.

Destino, amor y perdidas es una gran combinacion

I would have loved this movie, had it not been for the ending. What can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic.

17 Haziran 08, cesme yolunda & Julio Medem'den kalp kirici, biraz imkansiz biraz heyecanli bir ask hikayesi.mukemmel yonetmenlik, hikaye anlatimi, senaryo, oyunculuk ve final...

I absolutely adore this movie. It gets better every time you watch it.

One of the most beautiful love stories ever and the best European film of the past years. I already saw it three times and loved it more every time I watched it.