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as recommended by wintertriangles
*warning! spoilers etc*
I admit it... I cheated a little. Before I watched this movie I read probably too much about it, but that's a compliment, really. It's just that I was insanely curious about it, and the poster that wintertriangles posted in the Trade-Off tab was all it took. Plus I liked the images that were conjured up when I imagined a romance taking place in the Arctic Circle (it doesn't actually... well, sort of). It reminded me of "The Ice Man", a short story about a woman who falls in love with a man who is literally made of ice that I really liked. Anyway.
Lovers of the Arctic Circle is a movie that challenges the idea of fate, destiny, and coincidences. As young children, Otto and Ana meet in the schoolyard and are instantly drawn to one another. Soon thereafter, their parents meet and fall in love, Brady Bunch style, and the children are thrown together as step siblings in the process. They never act like step siblings, though. They barely speak at all (very much like my own relationship with my step sibling), but they like to share long, sideways half glances and secret smiles together (nothing like my own relationship with my step sibling).
As teenagers, they turn into lovers, and they enjoy parading it right under their parents' noses without them actually ever noticing. It turns into a game for them, like "accidentally" falling asleep after an all-night "study session" and having to climb out the window and re-climb in their own bedroom window in the nick of time. Unfortunately for them, though, fate has other plans, and guilt and tragedy force the two apart when Otto's mother dies. Years later, they meet again... in the Arctic Circle (where Ana has taken up residency and Otto, now a pilot, parachutes from his plane and gets stuck in a tree!)
The most interesting thing about this movie is that it's told through both of the children's point of view, so after watching one scene, it'd immediately start over again but this time with a different voice over in a sort of Run Lola Run-esque way. This over-the-shoulder perspective is really well-done with an honest feel to it - like when Ana tells the audience how she believes Otto is a reincarnation of her father on the inside, it mostly comes off as a girl playing make-believe.
The title itself is sort of a play on words, because Lovers of the Arctic Circle is really just one big symmetrical mind-f*ck, from the palindrome names, to the very last scene. The ending, in particular, left me feeling quite undone, because
but then I watched it again and decided, after taking into consideration both sides of the story, all lines had been met.
There's also a scene involving a sled that reminded me of Ethan Frome and I was momentarily scared out of my wits.
Lovers
of the Arctic Circle
1998, Julio Médem
as recommended by wintertriangles
*warning! spoilers etc*
|
Lovers of the Arctic Circle is a movie that challenges the idea of fate, destiny, and coincidences. As young children, Otto and Ana meet in the schoolyard and are instantly drawn to one another. Soon thereafter, their parents meet and fall in love, Brady Bunch style, and the children are thrown together as step siblings in the process. They never act like step siblings, though. They barely speak at all (very much like my own relationship with my step sibling), but they like to share long, sideways half glances and secret smiles together (nothing like my own relationship with my step sibling).
|
The most interesting thing about this movie is that it's told through both of the children's point of view, so after watching one scene, it'd immediately start over again but this time with a different voice over in a sort of Run Lola Run-esque way. This over-the-shoulder perspective is really well-done with an honest feel to it - like when Ana tells the audience how she believes Otto is a reincarnation of her father on the inside, it mostly comes off as a girl playing make-believe.
The title itself is sort of a play on words, because Lovers of the Arctic Circle is really just one big symmetrical mind-f*ck, from the palindrome names, to the very last scene. The ending, in particular, left me feeling quite undone, because
WARNING: "the ending" spoilers below
as they two are finally reunited, Ana dies from being hit by a bus in Otto's perspective. They show that after they show Ana's perspective, which is much different. In hers, she makes it all the way up the stairs to see him, but is frozen in place as Otto clings to her
but then I watched it again and decided, after taking into consideration both sides of the story, all lines had been met.
There's also a scene involving a sled that reminded me of Ethan Frome and I was momentarily scared out of my wits.