Lovers of the Arctic Circle
(Los amantes de Círculo Polar)
Screening on Film
Directed by Julio Medem.
With Fele Martínez, Najwa Nimri, Nancho Novo.
Spain/France, 1998, 35mm, color, 108 min.
Spanish with English subtitles.
With Fele Martínez, Najwa Nimri, Nancho Novo.
Spain/France, 1998, 35mm, color, 108 min.
Spanish with English subtitles.
A romantic epic that not only embraces coincidence as a motif but celebrates it, Lovers of the Arctic Circle follows a seventeen-year journey through the lives of Otto and Ana. They meet first as children, but their budding relationship takes a turn toward the taboo when Otto’s single father and Ana’s single mother decide to get married. Ignoring this minor societal obstacle, Otto and Ana continue their clandestine relationship until circumstances begin to pull them apart. Deploying subtle shifts in time and space that recall the early work of Alain Resnais, Medem nonetheless addresses themes and ambience that are Spanish to the core as he charts the crisscrossing destinies of these protagonists with passion and lyricism.