Lovers of the Arctic Circle

It’s basically a tender love story between Anna and Otto. They were still children when they formed a lifelong bond. A fragile story about the changes of emotions in adolescence, about the desire to change the environment, and an interesting optic wherein the Spanish girl is immensely attracted to Finland. (15/06/2017)

Julio Medem has incredible luck. Usually, his films catch me in an exceptionally positive mood, which makes me give them a greater number of stars than they deserve. Chaotic Ana, according to the standards I commonly apply to cinema, deserves to be discarded, and I, an embarrassing softie, gave it one star, probably out of inappropriate conformism. Lovers of the Arctic Circle is much better off, and I really like Medem's film language and choice of actors, but the way he handles his characters, and all those unbelievable coincidences, missed encounters, all those constructs that accumulated in the screenplay, sometimes slip into self-parody. This film was not supposed to be a comedy and yet titles like The Poacher's Foster Daughter or Noble Millionaire or Lemonade Joe often come to mind when watching it. It simply cannot be taken seriously and my three stars are rather for what the film could be if Medem wasn't so self-centered. Overall impression: 50%. (23/01/2015)