About the movie (DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET) - Los amantes del Círculo Polar (1998) Discussion

[–] verityvelis 21 years ago

Well, it looks that you have thought a lot about this movie, and your point is fabulous, but I have another theory.
The thing is that Ana and Otto share a love... the biggest love anyone can have, and this kind of love can only end with finding an even bigger love (which was practically impossible) or with death. Julio Medem chose to end it by death, he didn't choose a happy ending, and I don't think this is bad. It got me thinking about the "why" a lot of time, but the only conclussion I could get was this one. It ends like this.
Anyway, I don't know if you have seen Julio Medem's last movie called Lucia y el sexo (great, as well), but he said in an interview that he started the story because he felt like "guilty" for having killed Ana, and this movie started with her, scaping from death, but never mentioned anything about meeting Otto again. (Finally, Ana become Lucia and the eventual movie has nothing to do with "Los amantes del Círculo Polar")
Anyway, I think is great that people like us make our own conclussion, and the best thing is that we may never know if anybody is right.
Take care: Verity

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[–] BartenderAmber 21 years ago

wow- two great points. i adored this movie as well. i am still confused on the ending. i didn't get the ending where she went upstairs to find otto in the room. then in the next scene she got hit by the car? did the otehr one symbol here dieing and being in heaven or something and meeting him again? i'm going mad over it! but that's what makes a great movie i suppose.

It'll be funnier than a penguin playing a banjo.Dom Monaghan
http://www.therainforestsite.com

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[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vanjac12 20 years ago

I agree with you Verity. I liked this movie a lot. I wrote a
recommendation where I noted that Romeo and Juliet ends with
death, and I agree that there is nothing wrong with having
a moview end with death. I'm tired of "happy" endings. There
is something "Hollywood" and shallow about happy endings.

Life is tragic, and does end with death. I like realism.
I like fantasy too.

Van

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[–] vanjac12 20 years ago

I think I figured out the ending. "In Ana's eyes", she is hit by the bus,
and going up the stairs and meeting Otto happens in her mind as she lays
dieing. You hear the thud of the bus hitting her.

In "Otto in Ana's eyes", Otto goes up to her lying in the street,
she sees him, her eyes get "fixed and dilated", and she dies
with Otto in her eyes.

Van

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[–] blackrockchick 20 years ago

I just watched the film yesterday, this is also the conclusion that i came to and the one that makes the most sense, that Ana's Heaven is to be reunited with Otto, so that is what she sees. Otto's hell is to see Ana die.

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[–] sveppi001 20 years ago

Everything in the movie is very circular, hence the crash and him hanging in the parasiute and all. That's why I don´t think she's dead at the end.

She all of a sudden gets hit by a bus, an extremely horrifyingly shocking experience.
And often when something so shocking happens to you, you all of a sudden get images of simular events or circumstances that happened in your life in the past. So Otto's death (his eyes were cloed) flashes in front of her, and she cries. Cause in all of her hope, that's her biggest fear. Otto doesn´t die, so she doesn´t -all very circular.

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[–] Pooocooo 19 years ago

She's dead, because that is the only real ENDING of the movie. This is not an open end movie, it's circular. The movie keeps spinnning around in circles, hence all the recurring events. Therefore (because it's circular) there can't be any loose ends. It's a closed story. The story of these lovers has to end with the ending of this love, as it has to start with its beginning. And remember the words of otto father's in the beginning of the movie making his son realise the very tragedy of life: everything will come to an end, everything will die.

it's a wonderful movie, by the way

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[–] chjnita 19 years ago

hola, respecto al hecho de que en la película sea recurrente el concepto de la vida cirular, concuerdo totalmente con todos ustedes. Ambos personajes hablan de que tienen que cerrar un círculo, en este momento, pero si realmente ellos estuvieran empezando una nueva relación, si el final fuese el reencuentro, no estarían cerrando nada, sino que comenzando una nueva historia o siguiendo lo que habían dejado inconcluso.

Por otro lado, y porque he visto la película dos veces y no me puedo conformar con que Ana muera, es posible que el final sea "feliz", ya que, basándome en apreciaciones más bien técnicas que he encontrado después de largas horas de divagaciones, hay hechos que nos dan para pensar que Ana realmente no murió y ahora nos cuentan una historia a dos voces, juntos.(y esto es lo que quiero pensar)

1. La imágen dónde Otto ve a ANA con el pelo corto y Aki eskiando hacia arriba. Es probable que haya sido una premonición, o una imágen puesta a propósito por el director de la película, para decir que en realidad ellos tuvieron futuro juntos.

2. los muertos no lloran y Ana claramente derramó lágrimas cuando vio a Otto.

3. el impacto del autobus no fue tan fuerte.

bueno, sinceramente creo que Ana falleció, pero detalles como esos me llevan a la confusión, porque me gustaría que no fuera así.

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[–] luckyana11 19 years ago

The ending symbolises the fact that Otto achieved his goal- he refused to believe that love could die and his love never did. He loved Ana untill she died and she loved him too which is why we see him in her eyes.

'Anas eyes' shows what happened when she died she was reunited with Otto so although tragic there is an element of satisfaction when we finally see them reunited.

Otto in Anas eyes shows what actually happened, the red bus that occurs numerous times throughout the film symbolises the fact that in one moment your life can change forever and that you can't escape your destiny. Although Ana tried to have a life with someone else she couldn't because it was her destiny to be with Otto even if that meant she could only be with him in death.

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[–] o_wennardt 19 years ago

How 'bout this theory?

I would still like to think they both die. He in a plane crash, she by a bus. Reunited in heaven. Think of the beginning of the movie where his father tells him the "truth" about love and life; "Everything ends with death", but moreover: "Always make sure you have enough fuel..." Then you see the accident of the car hitting the oncoming truck/bus. Although this is only in the mind of young Otto, it makes sense to refer to as a preview of his fate. He would have liked to jump out of the plane to meet Ana but dies in the planecrash, and she would have liked to see him land on their polar circle, but alas...

Another thing: The note in Otto's hand (!Valiente!)on the photograph of the family: I think it is confusing at first, but then stylish and clever; the picture is taken when they're adolescents, but later in the film they're adults in the same photograph.

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[–] shopgirl42 18 years ago

<<2. los muertos no lloran y Ana claramente derramó lágrimas cuando vio a Otto.>>

Sí, pero recuerda que al comienzo cuando Ana se entera de que había muerto su padre, grita a su madre,
<<No- no lloro! No lloro hasta que el día en que me muera>>

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[–] gcj79 18 years ago

pero Ana tambien lloró despues de que Otto se habia ido

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[–] Kalamata 17 years ago

Wow. I think Chjnita pretty much says it for all of us.

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[–] roastball 17 years ago

Completamente de acuerdo contigo. Requería un español para revelar la verdad, o la interpretación más lógica.

For those of you that dont speak spanish, the main point here folks, is that the dead dont cry, which Ana clearly does at the end. Also, it is almost the exact same scene as that of Otto sledding off the cliff, when he wakes up to Ana. Therein lies the connection to the skiing backwards, which Otto asks Aki if he can when in the car right before Ana gets hit, but which he actually sees Aki do after crashing the sled in the mountains.

Interesting side note - Aki = Aquí (here in English, which is interesting as he is always in the right place at the right time in the film.

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[–] hanazdad2 17 years ago

This comment, since I don't read Spanish made as much sense as the movie. I think I understand bits of the movie. But when different aged actors play the same scene in others memories and the like I find an incomprehensible to find a relateable flow of the characters and stories. Some intellectual snobs made some narrowminded self serving comments on the synopsis of the movie. OK I can see the directors attempts to show the coincidents and related circles but generally for entertainment value alone it was contrived and had no realistic flow. I'm not so stupid that I can't follow a movie more complicated then Porky's. But the messages wasn't clear enough and the flow of scenes not clear enough and acting not real enough to get that type of interest to understand the general concepts unless one uses excessive imagination which does not always make scene.

That one commentor must like to make himself feel intelligent by putting down others he certainly cannot do it with his conceited, maniacal self centered back slapping of himself and his lame attempts to explain the directors concepts.

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[–] eline779 16 years ago

I think they both stay alive, for the following reasons:

- Otto's father says in the beginning in the car that everything ends, even love. Then Otto shakes his head because he disagrees. In the end it says "en el recuerdo de mi padre", which means it is a proof from Otto to his father that love doesn't always die, and that his father was wrong...
- the circles of their lives (from both Ana and Otto) are full now, because they found each other again.

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[–] cohen330 17 years ago

You nailed it.

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[–] budwheat 17 years ago

I just watched it, for the first time (I'm not always a timely viewer). Hobbes had it right, IMHO, a perfect interpretation of the plot line. I'd give Hobbes an "A+" in my class.

No slam for those who think Otto died, I just think you folks are reaching too far and making it way more complex than it was.

Either way, it was a neat, romantic, and ultimately sad movie.

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[–] Sandman143 12 years ago

If Otto didn't die, then how can you explain that the newspaper report that upset Ana so much so that she got hit by a bus, got in the newspaper before Otto could get to city himself?

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[–] pmjeger 19 years ago

Actually, Anna does die at the end, and i'll tell you sth else
The director of this movie, Julio Medem, decided to make his next movie (Sex and Lucia) because he thought it was very unfair the end of this movie... so Lucia is actually Ana, and her love story has a happy ending... it was like he wanted to do that in Los Amantes... but he didnt

"Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here" Udall

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[–] Tobias-m 19 years ago

I saw this movie in the cinema and walked out pritty inpresed........ i think like two year's later i found it on dvd and ofcorse bought it.

In the end she dies, just as someone along this thread said Romeo and Juliet alike, but he seems to remaine alive... To my opinion it was just a realy great magical experians all toghetter. I never gave it such deep thaught's as all of you posters, but loved it and will do so for menny vieuwings to come !!! Intresting to reed the diferent interpretations of Medems poem in motion...

Would love to see some of his other work's by the way.....

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[–] pwaring708 18 years ago

Where did you find it on DVD? I thought it isn't coming out on DVD until late April 2006... Please let me know.

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[–] sublimevn 17 years ago

Haha, i´ve just got it from less than 4 us dlls.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rosen-d 18 years ago

The way I see it, they both died. Many hints are given about this leading up to the ending. In the same sort of fashion that is explained in the movie Waking Life, people seem to dream after they die, but before they realize they are dead, so there is a certain number of events that play out in during this stage for each character.

Otto's death explained: The character that cuts Otto down (I forgot his name), has already appeared earlier in the film in his dreams, so likely isn't real (although this does not explain how Ana is able to interact with him, to be honest). I can't buy into the idea that Otto dies in the sledding incident, as too much seems to happen afterwards to indicate this. It seems to me Otto dies in the plane crash (never actually parachutes out), as everything else he experiences seems so dreamlike. The large bearded guy, when driving Otto to the city, puts on music and tells him that it will relax his mind (as if he needed to just relax and accept his death). Also, it is never fully explained in the newspaper about whether or not Otto survives the plane crash. His seeing himself in dead-Ana's eyes is his exact moment of realization.

Ana's death: She is hit by the bus when rushing into old-man Otto's house after seeing the newspaper. The first time when we see her enter the building is merely part of her "death-fantasy." When she gets upstairs and has to wait a bit before finding Otto is showing that she needs to manufacture this fantasy before it occurs. When she finally sees him, she doesnt run to embrace him, but stands there: This is her exact moment of realization. A big hint that none of what happened in the house actually happened is when she runs inside and tries to ask the man about what the newspaper means, he very non-chalantly replies "that isn't important now," implying that now that she's dead, it doesn't matter if Otto is alive or not.

Because of the cyclical nature of the film. these events are meant to overlap and be slightly different from each perspective. That is probably the most beautiful aspect of this film in my view. I loved the way Ana very apparantly jumps off the sled the first time you see it, but then we see that Otto's dad pushes her off during the second telling. Their "meeting eye-to-eye" in the end, is the way in which the proverbial "circle" is completed. Right before the ending occurs, Otto explains that his first life or first cirle (or whatever) hasn't quite yet finished, and what we are shown at the very end is this circle finally being closed when he sees himself in Ana's eyes.

Incredible film. Haunting, and so wide open for interpretation in such an intentional and controlled manner that it truly displays Medem's talent as a filmmaker.

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[–] domostatikos 18 years ago

i think finally that they both died.
I agree with you
Otto dreams all that thing with the parachute.he died.
the other thing is his dream that leads to anna's death
i want to say that if his dream was a reality, he would find anna dead.
On the other hand if anna hadnt died ,he would discover that otto had died.
the only solution is the death on both of them.Only with this way the circle ends and they meet eachother in heaven.
but finally is not something depressive if we imagine that if someone was not dead he would find the other one dead.So it is the only way to meet eachother even in heaven

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[–] lost_in_someone_else 18 years ago

En el final, Ana es la que muere, yo mire la pelicula con mucha atencion y descubri que se le cae una lagrima apenas ve a Otto e inmediatamente despues, se le dilatan las pupilas, y eso es lo que pasa cuando alquien muere.

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[–] zephyr4000 18 years ago

What is the significance of the final shot's being the crashed plane?

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[–] davidaguilera 18 years ago

I'm a Spanish teacher of cinema for university students. The intention of the film is clear: to convey eternal love, and the ending (although sad) is also clear: Ana dies, and the last image she will have in her eyes forever (Otto en los ojos de Ana) is the image of her beloved Otto. Very sad, but very beautiful. Of course, these are not my opinions: you can get all this information and more regarding all his films in the book "Contra la certeza. El cine de Julio Medem", written by Jesús Angulo and José Luis Rebordinos, and edited by Filmoteca Vasca and Festival de cine de Huesca.

If you need extra info, just let me know.

Regards from sunny Valencia.

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[–] Bladerunner 18 years ago

Here is the reason why I reject all the kudos for Medem's ending, which of course concludes with Ana's death. Sorry to some of those who would try to spin and spin this so that Ana somehow ends up alive in the end, she dies folks, if you don't understand why and how it fits the "circular" pattern of the movie then you just don't get it. Anyway, the reason I think it simply does not deserve all the accolades for not having a "Hollywood ending" is because this IS a "Hollywood movie". Come on folks, it doesn't get any more melodramatic and sentimental than this flick!

Think about it, what is the "message" of this film? There are no "coincidences"; fate rules the lives of men (and women). Otto follows the ball, when he normally never would and is there at just the exact moment that Ana needs him to comfort her. Otto and Ana end up together because their mom and dad hook up because of the note that Otto made. There are all these little fateful things happening to bring Otto and Ana together. Also, there are lots of "near misses", traffic accidents that *almost* happen, and multiple times when Otto and Ana might have died (the sled falling from the tree on Ana, Otto going off the cliff on the sled, the traffic mishaps, and so on). So the whole film is the journey of Otto and Ana finally coming together to share the love they have for each other.

Now, what happens when FINALLY Otto and Ana get together? Well, fate steps in and KILLS Ana. Now folks, that is just plain stupid! What is the message then? That fate is a cruel and capricious force that orchestrates ALL these perfect little meetings and events for Otto and Ana to fall in love and meet their one true love, and constantly saves them from dying, and then it pulls the rug out from under them at the last minute, when they are finally together? That is just plain STUPID.

Respecting the ending simply because Medem had the "guts" to end it that way is also absurd. Are we now praising the ending JUST because he doesn't do a happy ending? Please, lets be a bit more discriminate about praising the ending simply because it doesn’t do a happy ending that Holly... "wood".

This movie is VERY melodramatic and sentimental, so it should respect that and end in a fashion that mirrors it's melodrama and sentimentality and that IS NOT by killing Ana off with A BUS! Otto and Ana are brought together by fate that can never be avoided or changed. It is FATE that brings them together, so why does FATE kill Ana right before the two lovers can finally, actually LOVE one another? Love is not just some feeling. Love is what you DO, how you treat your lover, the sacrifices and commitment that you willingly give to your partner *because* you love them. So actually Otto and Ana have never been able to *love* one another, they are IN LOVE with one another, but they have never really been able to LOVE one another. Finally fate brings everything together for Otto and Ana to love each other and WHAM Ana is hit by a *bus*!!! COME ON PEOPLE!!! What is that?! Some cruel JOKE? A practical joke played on our two lovers by the foolhardy hand of fate?! No, it is a director that wanted to be Mr. Avant Garde-EuroArt and slap on an ending that wasn't "Hollywood" that made the film all “circular”. Well folks, sometimes it makes good sense to respect what Hollywood... would do. Lets face it; old Hollywood gets it VERY right a LOT of the time.

I'm sorry, if the film had been ABOUT how in life things are never guaranteed and often just when you finally reach the goal you have been striving for, BAM, s**t happens, then ok, cool, I can deal with that, but that is NOT what this film is about. This flick is about how FATE has intervened in Otto and Ana's life to bring these two together, how fate has time and time again pulled Otto and Ana out of death's way to share in a timeless love, only to be ludicrously robbed of any actual *love* by the very hand of fate that brought them together. That is simply DUMB.

PLEASE stop using Romeo and Juliet (R&J) as a model for how a great love story can end with the lovers dying. Romeo and Juliet is (aside from being a work of sheer genius, a classic work of literature that has stood the test of time and still resonates with heart and intensity) about two things (among many others) that have NOTHING to do with Los Amantes del Círculo Polar. R&J is about how love can blossom despite everything being against it... AND it is about how the petty, hateful machinations of man can often cause the destruction of the very things we would fight to protect! (Yes, I know that R&J has many other important things to say). The point is that R&J is NOT about fate causing two people to fall in love only to capriciously and senselessly rob them of actually sharing that love. MEN created the situation that brings about the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In Los Amantes del Círculo Polar it is FATE that brings Otto and Ana together and FATE that robs them of ever sharing that love. It is NOT because of anything that ANY of the characters DO.

My point is: if we are going to talk about how in life sometimes there is no happy ending, then why fill your story with all these events brought about by fate? Ask yourself this, is Los Amantes del Círculo Polar a *realistic* movie? No, it is more like symbolic poem, an ode to the fickle hand of fate. So why slap us in the face with such hardcore "realistic" events in a story largely about FATE?! I'll tell you why, because the director is a pompous, haughty pseudo-Surrealist who got off on dealing our lovers a bum hand so he could have his "shocking" ending.

In a sentimental, melodramatic movie, where fate is constantly controlling the lives of two people in love, bringing them together at all the right (and wrong) moments, how about following your OWN theme and allowing them to BE TOGETHER!!! Save the bummer ending, the senseless, cruel ending for a dramatic movie that could USE this kind of ending. The next time you make an ethereal, stylistic, sentimental love story, END IT LIKE A DECENT PERSON and don't even CONSIDER the depressing, mindless, absurd ending that you want to toss in so you can seem "oh, so, honest and gutsy", because we don't CARE if you are "honest and gutsy", what we DO care about is and ending that MAKES SENSE, that FITS WITH THE CHARACTER OF THE REST OF THE MOVIE!!!

Otto says it best himself in the movie "I just get bored with all these movies about human catastrophes." Whew brother, you said a mouthful.

<Sup' steps off the soapbox>

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus

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[–] kpjf 18 years ago

See-http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/04/26/julio_medem_sex_and_lucia_interview.shtml

In this he says

The tragedy in "Lovers" affected me a great deal. I decided, partly to help myself, to start the following film with the ending of "Lovers" and then flip it round. Lucia's fate is exactly the opposite; she starts with the news of her lover's death, and then escapes from it.

So he's clearly saying the death(s) affected him so it would indicate ana did die at the end and wanted lucia y el sexo to be different.

No offense to the original poster but i think s/he is reading too much into it and agree 100% with vanjac12 as to the ending

I think I figured out the ending. "In Ana's eyes", she is hit by the bus,
and going up the stairs and meeting Otto happens in her mind as she lays
dieing. You hear the thud of the bus hitting her.

In "Otto in Ana's eyes", Otto goes up to her lying in the street,
she sees him, her eyes get "fixed and dilated", and she dies
with Otto in her eyes.

Van

The original poster says

Well, also at the end, there says "En el recuerdo de mi padre" (in the memory of my father) what does that mean?... could it be a message of Julio Medem to honor his father?, well, that does not work like that, if a director wants to honor someone, he does it at the credits and not inside the movie, so...

I have seen many films, where the in memory of/en el recuerdo de... happens at the end of the film. Medem's father died one week before he went to cannes with TIERRA, so obviously you would assume his next film would say en el recuerdo de mi padre, verdad tio? as way of rememberance

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[–] tucsonschwung 18 years ago

First of all, this movie is a gem.
Second, bladerunner...your tantrum is not justified coz the ending is actually a "good" ending. In Hollywood they would've hooked up and lived happily ever after as booooring usual. You claim fate brought them together and kept apart just to kill her off in the supreme moment. It wasn't like that. He was dead too. Did not parachute out of the plane. He died on the way. Hence the very last shot of the flick with the crashed plane. However they can love eachother forever in heaven. So in a way still a good, maybe even better ending. Way better than if they just lived happily ever after. Cliche

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[–] shaffa2 18 years ago

I favour the theory proposed by Rosen-D (Mon Nov 28 2005 21:40:01) that both
Otto and Ana died and dreamed. Here are some (more) reasons why:

The movie ends with a shot of a (crashed) plane in the snow - there is no
doubt about that, is there? I believe that by showing this image as the very
last, Otto's circle is finally closed - "closed," because the beginning and
ending of the movie are the same: remember that the opening credits were shown
in some sort of blizzard? Now here is the tricky thing - during these same
opening credits, a song was played too; the very same song that was played
near the end of the movie, namely by Aki in the car. If I remember correctly,
it ended when Otto saw the red bus driving into Ana - another circle is
closed. My interpretation is therefore the following: in the opening credits,
these two circles are joined - beginning is ending, ending is beginning - Otto
died in the plane crash, and he finished dreaming (posthumously, so to speak)
when he saw Ana's accident.

The opening scene connects Otto's life with his dying; this scene in which
Otto is seeing Ana's accident is also a junction of another set of circles (if
you will): it is the moment where Ana stops living and starts dreaming. There
can also not be any doubt about the fact that Ana was in a crash too - not
only Otto dreams of it, but Ana experiences it as well: before she enters the
room across the street, some pages of the newspaper are flying around. Anna's
dream ends in the room where she meets Otto - here is where another circle
closes, for this scene could be seen as either a reunification in heaven, or
(and I like this one better) a reversal of her first meeting with Otto:
instead of him running towards her, she is now running towards him.

Translations of the lyrics of the song and of the newspaper heading should
point out if there is any truth in the above, but it really does make sense to
me. (Oh, speaking of which: could anyone also give me the text that was on the
paper plane that was sent by mail, as well as its translation?)

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[–] tucsonschwung 18 years ago

I don't have the text on the paper plane but I just wanted to say that your theory is exactly right.

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[–] MUPH 18 years ago

What I love about Medem´s movies ist that you never know. There is no definite ending or story. These movies need the audience to make the story be interpreted/rewrited/continueing in people`s minds.

In all his films you see people loving eachother, leaving eachother etc. and they allways have to choose - in Lucia y el Sexo, in La Tierra, in La Ardilla roja and in Los Amantes del Circulo Polar as well.

Sometimes you agree with the main character or with Julio Medem, sometimes you don`t.

What I`m trying to say is - You want Ana and Otto to live? Ok, let them live. You are sick of happyends? Ok, let them die.

I decided for me that Ana died. Because the love they have is so great that it can only go wrong. It would be nver so great for them to live together as for them wanting to meet again. Death is for the movie the best solution and ending.

P.S.: Please, excuse my english

You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you - Tyler Durden

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[–] ben-in-france 18 years ago

wow
the amount of thinking that goes into this... evidence that this is a great movie no?
Just like the message of the paper plane, I guess the answer depends on each one of us...
Najwa Nimri should be coming to the London Spanish Film Festival this september (TBC) maybe someone should ask her.

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[–] cagdas-4 18 years ago

i dont understand how you people can think that otto also died...it's quite clear that ana died and otto didn't die.

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[–] xj_sundown 18 years ago

bladrunner, you

1. bored me
2. are enforcing your opinions as being the only logical and therfore correct answer
and 3. ruining our fun

I agree with all the posters who say the ending is basically up to you.

thats the way I see it, and the ending in my eyes reflects some of the views on here, but I will keep it to myself to avoid ridicule by people like you.

no offense of course.

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[–] solaribalu 17 years ago

This film appears to go on about destiny but somehow the ending, killing her off with a bus, doesn't seem to fit at all. Somehow, it just comes off as false. Also I was just a bit disappointed with what I felt was the over-sentimentalisation of the philosophical or romantic ideas in the story.

It's something about credibility, which surely this film deserves, but which somehow eludes it. I don't want to spoil anyone's fun, it's just my take on it and I was interested enough to read what other people felt.

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[–] cinencuentro 17 years ago

David: podrias recomendar otras peliculas por favor?

Monica

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] PlayaBastian 17 years ago

Dear user

You have seen this, does it contain any nudity of both the older and younger version of these 2 boy and girl, the pics look like, not even full nudity, mean partial or semi-naked????????? Is it a coming of age film would you say, is it good???

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] maebefunke 17 years ago

the significance of the plane being the final shot is to show that otto is, in fact, dead. he never parachutes out of the plane. it was an extremely clever way to keep the audience's hope alive that the lovers would reunite again in life, while also playing with "coincidence" in the film; the coincidence of otto getting stuck in the tree, like the otto he is named after, etc. but when otto finally reaches ana after she is hit by the bus, we are still to believe he is alive, so medem used the plane as a way to let us know the otto we see in her eyes is ana's imagination, that is why the otto in her eye is a portrait.

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[–] gradpsyd 17 years ago

IMHO..Anna dies, Otto doesn't.. It's a Greek tragedy.. Pitty someone hasn't pinned Medem down and gotten an answer..

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[–] ben-in-france 17 years ago

He did answer that Anna died.
He said he felt bad about killing the character off that he created the character of Elena (played by Najwa nimri) in Lucia y el sexo

There is nothing in the last shot that tells us that there was a pilot in this crashed plane!

http://astudioincoventgarden.blogspot.com

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[–] rae_1998_99 17 years ago

Just because you saw the wrecked plane, does not mean Otto is dead. Think about it...What happens to a plane that nobody is in control of because they parachuted out of it??? IT CRASHES, MAYBE? Nah, I dont think so. I dont think an unmanned plane would crash, I think it would disappear into the infinate void. Yep, makes perfect sense.

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[–] dinaecon 17 years ago

I agree with this option. The image of a crashed plane doesn't ensure us that there's a pilot in it.

But there's something else I would also like to mention here: Bladerunner says:

"In Los Amantes del Círculo Polar it is FATE that brings Otto and Ana together and FATE that robs them of ever sharing that love.It is NOT because of anything that ANY of the characters DO. "

Actually, even though the whole movie's subject had to do with love/destiny/fate/circle, THERE WERE things made by the characters in order to find each other and not only wait for a "coincidence"... For example, Ana is the one who sends the letter to Otto, telling him about Finland. So, Otto takes the plane and goes in search of her. Pretty simple and clear.

Of course, the whole subject of fate has to do with love but also with the loss of loving persons... Budhists call it "karma", and ancient Greeks "pepromeno", meaning destiny.

Anyway, this was an excellent movie.

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[–] margauxmm 17 years ago

I agree that seeing the plane doesn't mean that Otto dies. But... I remembered a scene (i think this is the kind of movie you have to watch over and over to finally get all the details). It's the first time we see Otto as a Pilot, he's much older, and we don't really understand what's happening at the time. The camera then zoom on his gas tank which is almost empty. And he said to is mother as a little boy "If I'll get out of gas, I'll die."
Maybe it has no meaning, but I don't understand why the director would pay so much attention to the gas issue. This said, everyone should believe what's right for them. Even if I'm convinced Anna dies, I still hope... :)
beautiful movie !

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[–] hobbes_the_tiger 17 years ago

Nice theory rosen-d! I too was extremely confused about whether or not Otto dies, but in the end have come to the conclusion that Otto does NOT die! Here is why...If Otto dies in the plane crash, then the whole last chapter of the film, that we see from Otto's perspective (titled "Otto in Anna's eyes") must be a dream for Otto. Then Otto must see Anna hit by the bus and eventually die in his dreams. This cannot be true, since Otto can never dream as Anna dying! He loves her too much for that kind of dream to come to him. Recall the scene where Otto falls from the cliff, gets unconscious and starts dreaming. Otto dreams of a big man who saves him, skis upwards, but then he brings him to none else but Anna. In his dreams Otto is always getting reunited with Anna, even if in reality he is running away from her. So Otto cannot dream Anna's death and thus he indeed survives the plane crash and lives to see Anna's death. This is what fate would have in store for him, since remember that Otto was the one who left Anna after his mother died. So he never reunites with her, at least in the physical world. Regarding the events that happen after the crash here is the explanation. Otto gets stuck in that tree in a similar coincidence to that happened to the German Otto, and thinking that Otto laughs out aloud at his fate. Then that guy who comes up to save him looks identical to that guy whom he dreamed up once upon a time as his savior (when he falls from the cliff). That is why Otto was lost in thought in the car and he even asks that guy if he can ski upwards, as he saw in his dream. These are all coincidences consistent with the theme of the film. Then he sees Anna dying. Now this is what happens to Anna before she dies. She gets hit by the bus and starts realizing that she is gonna die. But before that happens she gathers all her imagination and strength to dream for the last time about meeting Otto. As rosen-d has said, she imagines of running to the German Otto, who doesn't seem interested to her queries since she/her thought process is dying. The next part is exactly what rosen-d says. She manufactures Otto coming out of the room, that's why we see him after a while and also she doesn't embrace him for the same reason that it's not real. By this time of her dream the real Otto gets out of the car and runs to her and their eyes meet. At the same time in her dream the Otto she was dreaming of meets his eyes with her! Thus the circle is closed and probably realizing this she cries for the last time and then her eyes gets frozen. She dies.

It's amazing that a film can bring about so many viewpoints. That's what makes this a classic. The pictures of the crashed plane at the beginning and at the end are just for continuity purpose, nothing else. And as somebody has pointed out Medem's dad really died soon after the shooting of the film was completed and thus the dedication.

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[–] mrlpratt 17 years ago

I TOTALLY agree with you HOBBES that Otto did NOT die. I came up with the same reasons you did actually. That shot of the plane right after Otto calls out the ccordinates of Ana's location and before we later find him dangling in the tree showed that the plane was on AUTO PILOT!! Why would Otto fly in auto pilot mode except that he was about to ditch the plane to jump out at those exact coordinates where the lake house was located to be reunited with his love?

And yes, the exact moment when the dying Ana sees Otto in her dreams in the apartment is when Otto appears to her in the street, and she dies. This explains why when Otto rushes to her in the apartment and embraces her, she couldn't do the same; she just stands there frozen with eyes glazed over.

"In MY eyes" that shot of the crashed plane in the snow yielded no body. lol

---------------------------------------
"I don't love you enough to hate you!!"

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[–] jailbyrd 16 years ago

I just saw this movie and I liked it. But I knew that one of them was going to be a tragedy. And I hate that part. They went thru so much to find each other again, all the destiny, fate and coincidences. Why couldn't they just find each other again and be happy? I hate films that end this way. Love doesn't always have to be so tragic.

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[–] cornelia123 16 years ago

Well Otto blew it, he let her go in the first place when he shouldn't have. Okay, one can understand his reasons for doing this, he felt guilty and responsible for his mother's death, for having 'abandoned' her, which he said to her he never would, to live with his father (to be with Ana), but his total abandoning of Ana was pretty drastic imo. I mean, she goes home one day and finds his room all empty.......So, did he DESERVE to find her again?

Maybe in life most people only get ONE chance, maybe that's what the film is about really?

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[–] Chris_UA 17 years ago

It is abolutely clear, that Ana is dead and Otto is alive. At the very beginning of the movie Otto says: "It's good that life runs in circles. But mine exists of one circle, not even a whole one. The most important is missing. I have written her name so many times in my mind. Here, at this moment, I can't close anything. I am alone." That is the answer, folks.

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[–] mnpa 16 years ago

hi there

i didn't like this movie's ending, seemed like an attempt to make "cine arte", and i thought it was artificial. not because of the death itself, but by the way she dies. up to that point i was totally immersed in the movie, and the bus hitting her out of nowhere literally threw me out of it.

i've been told (don't know if it's true) that the initial idea for the movie was that image of otto in the eyes of ana - dying. it is a beautiful image indeed, but the way they get to it left me completely cold.

i was not thinking "wow, the circle is closed and they are finally reunited, and yet his life will now forever be incomplete..." or stuff like that. it's true, i know there are tons of symbols and references and metaphors.

but i could only think "mmmmm, so the director felt she needed to die... was it to fit the story or to set the movie appart from hollywood?" and stuff like that.

i still believe this is a beautiful movie, just not for me.

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[–] littlekaren 16 years ago

5 1/2 years since this post and I first saw the movie on dvd today. Confused about the ending but to me, they're dead. It's the randomness of fate that they come together and then, not. I think about fate a lot re:my own life and destiny is laid out ahead of us and can't be nudged. This movie reminded me a bit of Love Me If You Dare.

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[–] albertooooooo 16 years ago

I think that this movie doesn't have open endings, i think that gives you choices, let make it clear:

Creo que está película no tiene un final abierto a interpretación, si no que nos proporciona diferentes opciones, aquí a lo que me refiero:

The two died or 2 lived
Ok, the movie starts with a crashed plane because "run out of fuel" later the bus accident when Ana was reading the newspaper, then "Ana with tears in his eyes"

los dos mueren, o los 2 viven

Bueno, la película comienza con un avión que se estrelló por que "se le acabó la gasolina" más adelante el accidente del autobus cuando ana estaba leyendo el periódico y luego "ana con lágrimas en los ojos".

Some key dialogs.
Algunos diálogos importantes.

-Todo caduca con el tiempo, el amor también (Otto no está de acuerdo)
-Everything ends with the time (Otto's not approving)

-Y si se acaba la gasolina, me muero
- And if I run out of gas, I´ll die

-El amor de un hijo es para toda la vida
- The love of a child its forever.

-Deja de llorar, entonces no sucederá.
-Stop crying, then it won´t happen.

I dont know how many lives i had left but I only wanted to live with my mother at that moment I wanted to go back to her, Skii up.... Then the scene when Ottos its "Skiing up"... Otto died

No sé cuántas vidas me quedan, pero en aquella ocasión yo quería vivirlas con ella "esquiar hacia arriba" inmediatamente se muestra la escena donde Otto es llevado hacia arriba... Otto muere

---The two died--- (los dos mueren)
When they are searching Otto who jumped in the snow, Anna sees the sleigh falling in his head, white screen (what means this? can't be more clear...)

Cuando están buscando a Otto que brincó en la nieve, Ana mira el trineo cayéndole en la cabeza, una pantalla blanca (no puede ser más evidente...)

It´s good that life runs in circles.
But mine exists of one circle, not even a whole one.
The most important is missing.
I have written her name so many times in my mind.
Here, at this moment, I can´t close anything.

The circle its closed.
Se cierra el "círculo"

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[–] zonite 16 years ago

Hello, I support the theory that both Otto and Anna live in the end (do not die). First, the circles: as most of you have pointed out, the only way to end this movie is: either they both live or they both die.

And there is a proof that Anna is alive in the end: Ana's eyes. How can someone dead cry? (I read in one message that Ana's eyes cried and then dilated, just as it happens when someone dies... but I have just seen the movie and I can tell you is the other way round: first, her pupils dilate, then, when she sees Otto, she cries.)

I read some of you talked about Medem's (the director's) words, stating that he felt so bad about killing Ana at the end of this movie that he was going to try to revive her in his next film. Ok.

But folks, I am a writer myself and I can tell you that sometimes stories say things that we authors didn't intend to.
Some friends have told me they have understood different things about the characters when reading my stories... then, they ask me: Was that what you meant? What's the truth?

And I answer that the story speaks for itself: what you understand, is.

If the end is not clear, maybe it's because the author himself, without noticing, was letting some hope in.

(Please, excuse my english, I'm spanish)

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[–] skay_baltimore 12 years ago

When I watched the ending, I was screaming (silently, of course) "NO NO NO. She can't die. Not after everything they went through to reunite". But the truth is, she died. The director said so, in no uncertain terms. And while people can refuse to accept that ending, and rationalize anything they want, when a director states explicitly what he had in mind for the ending, that carries more weight as far as I'm concerned. So I accept this as a tragic love story, with no happy ending. However, I think one can say that their love was so strong that it exists on an Eternal level where death has no grip. That is a legitimate inference from the movie. But not that she didn't die.

Update:

After reading another thread, I think the bigger question isn't whether or not Ana died, but whether or not Otto died also. After some reflection, it seems as if they BOTH died, which would bring a certain tragic balance to the film. In their last thoughts, they both clung to each other, and maybe met is some other dimension/plane, since they really were inseparable when it came to their desires for one another.

The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The key is to be fearless. R' Nachman of Breslov

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[–] 12 years ago

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