6/10
Downbeat as well as thoughtful film about a young Spanish couple with a baby seeks to survive
10 August 2015
A nice couple fights for survive the current economic crisis hitting in Spain of the 2000s . It shows us men and women seeking to make choices when confronted with problems and misfortune . Spain has been experiencing particularly hard times and those difficulties and mishaps have appeared here and there in movie, in some instances more bluntly than others . Natalia (Ingrid García Jonsson) and Carlos (Carlos Rodríguez) both aged 20, are in love and struggling to survive in today's Spain . They are a young couple in love . She's dropped out of High School and spends her days at home , hanging out with friends and occasionally shop lifting make-up while Carlos works bad-paid jobs and conspires with his friend to open his own business . They have no great ambitions because they have no great hopes . To earn some money, they decide to shoot an amateur porno film . The birth of their daughter Julia is the main catalyst for the changes they make .

This documentary-style fiction in the technology age about the difficulties of being young amid a recession , as it develops an insightful and stirring portrait of an affectionate couple , as their limited resources prevent them from getting ahead as they'd like , confronting situations that undermine their personal dignity . This is a well-crafted and strikingly intimate film though monotonous about a lower class couple . Later on , when she sets out to work out of Spain , in Germany , they have to communicate themselves in a long distance , as when you are countries apart in love , you have to find creative ways to connect . We immediately see that the story is going to be told from some unorthodox perspectives as many scenes are broadcasting through a cellular . On a few occasions, Rosales uses technology in an interesting and new way to mark the passage of time and showing the changing relationship between Natalia and Carlos and though I appreciate the approach here , I hope it doesn't become a regular thing in features . As it relies heavily on a particular relationship supported by technological means such as phone message , e-mail , Google Earth , Skype , Facebook and WhatsApp . Watching the protagonists grow and mature over the course of a few short years is a marvelous reminder of how the happenings of our lives shape the people we become, even if the changes aren't immediately apparent . Despite its low budget the picture manages to be intelligent , but also a little bit boring and hard to follow . The good thing about this film is that the director made it on a limited budget only having to do a few sets , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . Other questions to deal this film result to be : Just how interconnected can one couple be while living countries apart ? . The final result is an offbeat story that's captivating , in spite of not being all that fun . Interpretation by two actors is frankly good , Ingrid Garcia and Carlos Rodríguez are pretty well as this peculiar and beloved couple .

This microscopic look at the hardships faced by a young couple in Spain was innovative and originally directed Jaime Rosales who was born in Barcelona, Catalonia , Spain . Here Rosales adapts to the times and find a particular romance in the ways people are living today and without musical score . Rosales takes a Verite approach to ¨Beautiful Youth¨ which gives the movie an added layer of reality and he uses technology in an interesting and new way to mark the passage of time and showing the changing relationship . Jaime Rosales is a good director , writer and producer, known for La Soledad (2007), Las Horas del Día (2003) and Hermosa Juventud (2014) . ¨Beautiful youth¨ won Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and Special Mention in Cannes Film and Nominated Un Certain Regard Award ; Festival Turia Awards 2015 Won Turia Award Best New Actress ; Toulouse Cinespaña 2014 Won Best Actress Ingrid García Jonsson ; Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain Nominated Best New Actress ; CEC Award Best New Actor and best new actress : Carlos Rodríguez ; Gaudí Award Best Film not in the Catalan Language and Nominated Goya Best New Actress : Ingrid García Jonsson .
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