Lovers of the Arctic Circle is a Spanish film about two lovers, Otto and Ana, who meet by chance as kids, split as adults, only to have one more chance at love in the end. It's a movie about coincidences and circles involved in someone's life and unfolds like a good Spanish book. I wasn't sure if it was a movie that could hold my attention at 3 a.m., but this one sure did thanks to a quick editing style and a fast paced love story with some wonderful transitions that put to good use the visual medium of film. Recurring images, both verbal and written, run through the film like symbols in a book and these are used to emphasize the coincidences - the caribou, the concept of circles (arctic), concept of mortality, planes, names, occupations, near car crashes, and fuel. There are striking uses of fades and cuts - most memorable is the scene where Ana is almost killed by a sleigh falling from a tree - she looks up, sees the sled as it comes down, closes her eyes, the camera fades to black, then she opens them, still looking up, then looks down to see the sled in the snow beside her. Another nicely setup scene is the flashback to where Ana's father dies - while never actually SHOWING her father, it shows us behind the wheel of what we presume to be a sports car (engine roaring) as it passes a big truck. We see an oncoming truck and anticipate the accleration, but then the engine sputters and the camera looks down at the instrument panel, then we cut to the fuel guage reading empty as we hear the truck blare its horn and the guage's glass crack. Wow. Here's another one: Ana's mom Olga is in the front seat of a nice looking car (I'm presuming a Volvo) telling the kids that their father is busy. There is a cut to the back seat of the kids, still under 10, as they look on. In a repeat of an earlier near car crash, we watch from the back seat as a bus pulls in front of the car. "Changes happened overnight" is the voice over as she slams the brakes. We cut back to the kids who are pitched forward by the brakes, then back to their seats, suddenly as teenagers. Whoa. Helped by a wonderfully thought out script, this film propels us into the lives of the two young lovers as they journey through self-discovery and growing up from their first meeting to their anticipated reunion after splitting up many moons before. Moving between the viewpoints of both Otto and Ana, we are given insight as to how the two lovers view the situations and each other. It's a good device, but can get confusing to someone who isn't paying attention. I had to watch the film twice to catch all the recurring symbols and images and I'm still not sure I caught them all. Also, I loved the way the film is set up where the opening shot is of the downed plane and the opening scenes are of a grieving Ana, which sets up the conclusion. If I have a complaint about the film is that the conclusion, though well written, falls somewhat flat because the acting falters and it's almost played too comically in tone for the rest of the film - and it jars too much between serious and comic. Still, the acting and writing really work well in a unique visual style that really made good use of subjective camera.
Review of Lovers of the Arctic Circle
