Lovers of the Arctic Circle
It is good that lives have several circles.
But mine, my life...
has only gone around once...
yet the circle isn't closed.
The most important part is still missing.
I have written her name inside many times.
And here, right now, I cannot close anything.
I am alone.
As a child, I used to live surrounded by the entire world.
I used to feel protected.
Until, on a cold afternoon, when I left school...
something happened.
I knew nothing about girls.
Where do girls run to?
Why was she staring at me like that?
If she hadn't stared for quite so long...
I would have run until I caught the ball.
Or a bit ahead...
if that boy's boot had shot well.
Right in the middle.
The ball would have stayed inside the school.
And I at the goal, perhaps...
if that day I had left a bit later.
Everyone would have congratulated me.
But that did not happen.
I'm glad it's cold, how about you?
Cold? No. Why?
Winters have to be cold...
so we can appreciate green and beautiful springs.
I prefer the summer, when it's hot.
Life needs to have its cycles.
- Everything is born and dies. - Not everything.
Do you know something that lasts forever?
That's life...
it's implacable.
Happy and sad.
Everything withers with time.
So does love.
The gas in the car, for example.
If you forget you're going to run out, you'll get stuck on the way.
You have to take things with good humor.
Because they come and go.
Things cannot last forever.
I'll be right back.
I'm sorry, it's not my fault.
I'm going to separate from your mother.
My son.
I will always love you.
And if I run out of gas, I'll die.
LONG DISTANCE AIR COURIER
How will this journey end?
Any other questions?
No.
Did you know that an eight-year-old boy...
can have 33 questions per hour, on average?
No.
I had many more, but it was always the same question.
Are you sure you have no questions?
Otto.
Can I go to the restroom?
Is that all you wanted to ask, Otto?
I think you have a much more important question.
Do girls ask the same questions as us?
Well...
I don't think so. I'd say they ask fewer questions.
Yes.
Girls your age are much more mature than you.
Otto.
Have you read the airplanes?
Do we have to?
- Who wrote this? - The schoolyard is full of airplanes.
If someone wrote this to me, I'd be ashamed to death.
What does it say? I can't read it.
It's so corny.
- There's a sentence written on it. - Always the same one.
How romantic. It's what we have always wondered.
I decided I had to talk to her.
First I'll ask her name.
Then I'll say my name is Otto.
And that it reads the same backward as forward.
Otto!
Hi, my name is Ana.
I will stay here as long as necessary.
I'm waiting for the biggest coincidence of my life.
The biggest of them all.
And I have seen many coincidences.
Yes.
I could tell my life story by splicing coincidences.
The first one, the most important one, was the worst.
It came with a tragedy.
No. No.
That day, my mother went to pick me up at school with the most terrible news.
No, and stop crying so it won't be true.
That fucking car.
I said no!
And when I say no, it's no.
You can run backwards.
Hours backwards. A whole life.
It was my father's life.
And if his beloved daughter didn't run, who would?
Where did that boy come from?
From my father's death?
At the time, I thought it was a present from him, ashamed of dying so young.
I even thought it could be him.
That night I looked at the pictures of him as a child.
They didn't look anything alike.
But it didn't matter.
Yes.
As a child, I thought my father had left his body to live inside a boy my age.
Cuter than him.
Perhaps he was fed up with seeing my mother cry.
Wipe your tears, Dad is not dead.
What happened?
When it's cold, most things go faster.
Or they arrive earlier.
Just like coincidences.
I love it when it's cold.
On a very cold afternoon, I read a question of love...
too beautiful to be a child's handwriting.
I needed to share that message.
I didn't know what to do with it.
Take this, Mom.
How beautiful.
Who wrote it?
It's from...
that man.
Really?
If you don't want it, I'll keep it.
What are you talking about?
I love it.
It was him, once again.
As I thought, that message came from my father.
It's cold, isn't it?
- Very. - My name is Olga.
And I'm Álvaro.
I learned his name from a shout.
Otto!
He's telling me to wait. That boy is incredible.
What's up with you lately? You do more stupid things every day.
Poor boy, he's soaking.
There's no need for you to take us home. It's not on your way.
No, I'll drop him at home so his mother can give him a hot bath.
Right, Otto?
Then I'll take Olga and her daughter to their place.
Hey...
I'm here. I'm Ana.
Do you remember me?
Well, say something.
My name is Otto.
Do you know what your name is?
No.
Well, I do.
Otto.
Yes.
Listen...
Ana can be read the same backward or forward, too.
- Of course. - Great.
It's a palindrome.
- You just noticed now? - Yes.
You just noticed now?
My father used to say that my name was palindromic to bring me good luck in life.
So my life changed all of a sudden.
Mom, I'm feeling bad.
What's wrong?
I don't know, I feel sick.
Do you want to know why my name is Otto?
Otto, please, not now.
Okay, I'm leaving, then.
What?
We're close to home.
I'm stubborn, and I don't give up easily.
I decided Otto was speaking on the outside...
and my father on the inside.
So I spent a long time sitting beside him.
For a while...
every afternoon.
Talking to him, without Otto hearing me.
My mother's boyfriend is for her alone.
You are my only father.
One is enough.
Goodbye, Otto.
Give my regards to your mother.
Goodbye.
See you tomorrow.
Kiss.
If you can hear me, kiss me back.
- Good morning, Otto. - How did you sleep?
Very well.
I was so in love...
that the fact that Ana was so weird seemed to be caused by my love.
Do you know your father has been promoted?
You haven't told him?
No. I don't even think he knows I have a job.
Now your father has a bigger office.
Your father has a lot of work.
Ana...
you could talk to each other once in a while.
Now you're like siblings.
No.
I don't want a sibling.
Me neither.
Well, never mind. You'll get used to it.
Today we'll sleep at the new house.
One day we'll show it to you. Right, Otto?
When it's tidier.
And you can spend some weekends with us.
Changes came out of the blue.
- Did you hurt yourselves? - No.
Damn it.
What's your problem? Are you crazy?
There's a yield sign.
- What sign? - The yield.
- Don't you see I'm carrying two kids? - What does it have to do with....
Come on, get out, I have to leave the car here.
From tomorrow on, you'll take the bus.
You're old enough.
Different houses, different buses.
Now I could only see her on the weekends.
Every other weekend.
I couldn't keep quiet anymore.
I wanted to tell Ana that I loved her, and to know what she felt for me.
Ana, my darling, I love you.
It took my father a long time to leave Otto's body...
and die completely.
The bombing of Guernica...
started early in the afternoon on April 27, 1937.
Do you know why my name is Otto?
On a Sunday afternoon...
Otto finally said something.
Don't you say anything.
During the bombing of Guernica, my grandfather was hiding in the woods.
There, he found a German pilot who had had to bail out...
because his plane had broken down.
The German was stuck in the branches of a tree.
Hey, you.
Gun.
My grandfather said he would help him to get down if he dropped his gun.
The pilot agreed.
So my grandfather did as he promised.
Then he took out his last cigarette and shared it with the pilot.
Otto.
Otto?
The pilot.
The German said he would always be grateful.
My grandfather gave him his gun back.
And, on exchange...
the German pilot passed the cigarette on to him.
There was still a drag left.
My mother is German.
When my grandfather met her he told my father...
she was a present from that German pilot whose life he had saved.
So, when I was born, they gave me his name: Otto.
Otto, the pilot. Of course.
Otto, it's very late.
Your mother must be waiting for you.
I don't understand why he saved his life.
He had bombed his village. He was a fascist.
If I had been that German pilot and an enemy had saved my life...
I wouldn't have killed anyone ever again.
Why did you name him after a Nazi?
That question of love...
the one on the plane...
was Otto's.
Not my father's.
That story about the German pilot is a joke.
On a Sunday afternoon, I found out Otto was in love with me.
I want to be in love, too.
Lapland
This line is the Arctic Circle.
Here, in the summer, the sun never sets.
It's the midnight sun.
It's weird, isn't it?
I couldn't speak a word.
Aren't you listening to me?
Am I boring you?
I would have preferred to be born mute to have an excuse.
What's going on? It's Wednesday.
I'm moving in, if you let me.
- What did you tell your mother? - Nothing. She hasn't realized I've left.
Are you crazy or what?
She wouldn't let me.
Of course not.
I'm going to phone her right now.
What's up?
He says he's moving in here...
without asking his mother, nor anyone else.
They should also have a say here, don't you think?
For me, for a while....
What's up with the kid?
Don't cry, for God's sake.
I hate it when you play the victim.
Álvaro, calm down.
I don't know why he wants to live here, either.
No, I didn't say "live."
For a while, perhaps.
I'll put him on, if he wants to speak with you.
Mom, please forgive me.
I'll visit you every day.
After school.
I'll be waiting for you tonight in my room. Jump through the window. Valiant!
Come on, guys, show me your best smiles.
Valiant. Valiant.
Valiant.
Ana, I'm here.
Wake up.
Ana, Ana.
Look, what do you think? We've got a family.
What a nice frame.
I've already got a family, Dad. I don't need anything else.
Well, you're the luckiest one.
Not many people can say they have two families.
- Is it something to be proud of? - Yes.
We are an attractive family.
Mom, I'm here.
Get dressed, we're going out.
We're going to the mountains. By train.
There's still one left.
I'm going to take some beautiful pictures of you.
Mom, are you there?
You went to do the shopping, didn't you?
I'm going to buy some film and I'll phone you later.
When you're back, okay?
Come back soon, please.
Mom...
it's me...
Otto.
I'm back.
I'll take one of you.
There isn't any left, that was the last one.
You look so beautiful.
Thank you, my son.
I can't understand why Dad stopped loving you.
You cannot understand those things.
They just happen.
Your father is a good man. He's not to blame.
Yes, he is.
And he's not good.
You say that because you still love him.
No. Now I only love you.
A son's love lasts forever.
I would have preferred you were the one who died.
You've been very harsh to your father.
Please, apologize to him.
That's what I was going to do.
Until one and a half seconds ago.
But, if you tell me to, I can't apologize anymore.
You never ask for those things. That's not the way it works.
Please, my mom can't be dead.
It's all right, I'm sorry.
But let me say you have to change.
You're too proud.
I'm sorry, Dad.
It's all my fault.
Wait, I want to go with you.
You can't.
I'm going all the way down.
That's why.
You'll see, you'll bail out early.
- You're going too fast, jump off! - Otto, slow down!
Jump! Jump!
Stay with them. I'm off.
Otto, bail out! There's a cliff!
Why am I not dead?
I don't know how many lives I have left.
But, at that time...
I only wanted to live them with my mother.
Go back with her.
Ski upwards.
But you're Ana.
Y es, my son.
Do you want to be my mother?
That's impossible.
I remember my first time in the Arctic Circle.
It's not easy to be in love.
Wishing it is not enough.
You have to hear it.
Nobody has a heart like Otto's.
Nor do I.
What's going on? It's Wednesday.
One night, Otto moved in with us.
Otto left his mother to be by my side.
To see me every day.
And night.
I love the smell of tobacco.
It reminds me of the story of Otto, the German.
I'm sure he's alive.
I like that your name is Otto.
You look at my mother and I'll look at your father, okay?
And I got very close to him.
So very close.
As close as I could.
To love him like he loved me.
Otto.
Otto?
Otto.
Álvaro, have you seen Otto? He's not in his bed.
Fuck, you overslept.
I don't know, he might be in the garden.
No. I've looked for him everywhere.
Ana, wake up, it's 8:00.
Your brother is not in his room. Do you know where he is?
No.
I never know anything about Otto.
Besides, he's not my brother.
I can't stay any longer, I have to leave.
And what about your weird son?
Don't worry.
He must have gone to sleep at his mother's in the middle of the night.
Mom.
Have you looked under his bed?
Of course I haven't looked under his bed.
Why would l?
I don't know. I hear some snoring in his room.
Otto, it's 8:00.
We've been looking for you.
Try to do things we all understand, okay?
Easy for us.
Do you always sleep down here and naked?
You live with other people, you know?
Aren't you going to give me a good morning kiss?
I have never felt sex like I did then.
Otto and I used to enjoy it together.
At home.
Secretly.
And I've never had such a red heart.
It's beautiful.
Your mother is going to love it.
I think it's corny.
Don't start, okay?
Have you made up your mind yet?
I don't know.
If it were in another color, it would be less corny.
Look, Otto, the best hearts are red.
And for me? What are you going to give me for Christmas?
Snow. As much as you want.
Do you have a telephone?
No, but there's a phone box by the door.
I'll tell your father we're late.
And hurry up, we've spent two hours looking for your present.
- Should I wrap it? - No.
He'll just wear it.
- Your mom's coming. - Take this.
- Have you bought it yet? - No.
Otto, my patience is limited.
Your father is at home, hungry, and in a very bad mood.
Can I have a red heart, please?
Yes.
Should I wrap it?
Yes, it's for my mother.
Yes, of course.
Any more hearts?
No, that's enough.
Olga, can I borrow 1,000 pesetas? I haven't got any money.
I don't know if we will have any left to pay the cab.
That's nice...
you helping each other like siblings.
Hello.
Excuse me. Good evening.
My name is Álvaro Midelman, and I work on television.
I'd like to know if you would like...
to audition for a position as a news announcer.
What?
I'm looking for a woman your age for the evening news.
Excuse me...
but I couldn't help hearing you on the phone.
And....
It's just an audition.
You have nothing to lose.
Today in Guernica...
there was a formal apology...
from the German government...
before the Basque authorities.
During the ceremony, presided over by the Mayor of the town...
the German ambassador to Spain has spoken to the audience...
and, for the first time...
has assumed responsibility for the bombing of Guernica by Luftwaffe airplanes...
which caused 2, 000 civil casualties during the Spanish Civil War.
LAPLAND TRAVEL AGENCY
Ana, please.
What you've just seen means nothing.
I have it under control.
So, between mother and daughter...
keep my secret.
I'm the best at keeping secrets.
I promise you I won't leave Álvaro.
Álvaro, Álvaro, the one at home.
This one's name is also Álvaro, you know?
It's funny.
Trust me.
I'll never abandon you.
Above everything, I'm your mother.
Otto's mother died all of a sudden.
And he...
was never the same again.
Mom!
Get out, get out!
Get out!
Get out of here!
Out! Out!
Otto wanted to die.
And I was going with him.
Otto, slow down!
You're going too fast, jump off!
You're going to kill yourselves!
Bail out! Bail out!
Otto, bail out! There's a cliff!
Otto!
Answer!
Otto!
Otto, don't die, do me that favor.
Let's go to the resort.
We have to ask for help.
You go, I'm staying.
No, Ana, it's very dangerous.
I don't care.
Ana!
Come back here right now!
Ana!
Otto!
We're looking for Otto, for fuck's sake!
Stop.
Stop, will you?
You're not dead.
So I'm not going to cry.
No.
Otto?
I've found Otto.
Is he all right?
Yes.
Otto?
Otto, are you all right?
Tell me you are.
- Are you Ana? - Yes, my son.
Where's my mom?
Nobody knows.
That depends on you.
But Otto didn't want to be with me anymore.
He felt so much guilt...
that it even included me.
Otto?
Otto.
Where's your brother?
I don't know.
He hasn't slept with me.
Ana, please, don't make jokes now.
Have you seen how he left his room?
I've already looked under his bed.
And in the wardrobe?
Try.
You can expect anything from this boy.
I wished with all my heart that he were there.
Your son has left. Just what we needed.
Asleep.
Naked.
How long are you staying?
I don't know.
Ana?
Ana, please, open the door.
Ana!
The only thing we knew about Otto was that he took money from his father.
A lot.
Ana...
I want to talk to you.
Ana? What's the matter, Daughter?
Ana!
You need to see a psychiatrist.
Ana!
My mother was going to separate from Álvaro.
She asked me to move with her.
The money I took from my father was running out.
And that helped me to get moving.
But I didn't want to live anywhere.
I remember it was spring.
JOBS
Excuse me, can I have one of your cigarettes, please?
It's dark and a bit strong.
It doesn't matter, I just want to smoke.
PILOT NEEDED
Thanks.
I know you.
Really?
Sorry, I don't know you.
Do you like coincidences?
It depends, there are good ones and bad ones.
Sofía was my teacher.
Ana.
I'm Javier.
You separated from Sofía, right?
Yes.
There aren't any good coincidences left.
It's my fault.
I used them all up too early.
You are Otto's sister.
Yes.
Our names are palindromes.
You can't erase that.
My life was blind.
I understood that, leaving Ana, I had lost my fate.
So I had to invent one myself.
Finland.
Fly by night and sleep by day.
What could I expect from such a life?
What are you doing here?
I came...to pay a visit.
I'm fine.
It's too late for being fine.
You're late for everything.
I don't want to know anything about you.
- Me neither. - Don't you?
No, I haven't come to see you.
Why did you move in here?
You didn't stop until you destroyed my life.
Are you happy now?
What's up with you?
She's left.
I've been left alone.
As you can see, I have a nervous disorder.
Where are they?
I don't know.
And Ana?
Out there.
She was going to move in with a teacher.
One of your teachers at school.
Who with?
Well...
one who couldn't get to you...
and now is screwing your sister, 20 years younger than him.
The world is becoming selfish.
Too many motherfuckers.
I can see how you're doing.
You've never seen anything.
And even less about me.
I'm your father, aren't l?
I'm very sorry, Dad.
You're sorry too late.
Everything here is devastated.
You're still in love with Olga.
Draw a person.
Who?
That's up to each of you.
Give that to me.
Did you make it?
Who made it?
Take it.
- Who is she? - My mother.
She's very beautiful.
Yes, she is.
She died from love.
How can you die from love?
She was abandoned.
Are you kidding?
She was German, she died from being good...
while rinsing a lettuce.
Ana.
What a surprise.
How's life treating you?
Nothing special.
And you?
Are you still with your teacher?
He's not my teacher.
And now I'm a teacher myself.
How's your mother?
Fine.
These last years she's wanted to go to Australia.
Too far.
If you let her go...
she'd go where maps wouldn't show.
It's from last summer.
We spent two weeks in Portugal.
How's Otto doing?
I don't know.
I guess he's fine.
You know how he is.
He refuses to tell me where he lives or what his job is.
But he calls me from time to time, or he drops by without notice.
If you had got on well with each other...
Iike siblings...
this house would still be a home.
Mom, lend me some money.
What's happened?
I've just split up with Javier.
I could see it coming.
What are you going to do now?
I want to disappear for a while.
Dear, you have such bad timing.
You know next month we're going to Australia.
Have a nice trip.
Ana, wait, don't be proud.
You can stay in this house until we leave.
Not later, because we rented it out.
No.
This is the first place where Javier would look for me.
Come with us to Australia, then.
That's too far away.
Too far, too close...
there's always something.
What do you want to do?
I just want to leave.
And go where?
To Lapland.
Ana, please.
You need to think things through.
You can't just leave a man you've been living with for four years...
at his place...
because you don't own a place...
without having a plan.
That's true. You've always been very practical.
You want to go to Lapland?
My father lives in Finland.
In a town called Rovaniemi.
And he has a cottage by a lake.
Within the Arctic Circle.
Next month...
at night, the sun will not set.
It's the midnight sun.
It's a different world.
You're smoking too much.
I just get bored with all these movies about human catastrophes.
You used to like air fights as a child.
Fighter-bombers.
Do you remember?
I've changed a lot.
So much?
Completely.
Don't tell me now you're scared of planes.
Have you ever flown?
Yes.
And I'm not scared.
I'm going home.
Come to visit me more often.
Next week.
Oh, I almost forgot.
An envelope arrived for you last week.
I've left it there, on the table.
Who is it from?
There's no name on it...
just an address, in Finland.
I recognized everything.
Even the airplane number and the shipment code.
At first, what impressed me the most was that I had brought that envelope.
On my plane. Without knowing it.
Who else would know?
Nights I wait for you, staring at the sun.
Come on, valiant. Jump through the window.
"Valiant."
The coincidence we were waiting for.
Dad...
I'm going to stay for the night.
Very well.
You bedroom is still there.
The coincidence we were waiting for.
I've met the real Otto.
That German pilot your grandfather saved.
It was a good idea to save him.
And so was sharing a cigarette with him.
Otto left for Finland with a Spanish woman.
You see? He left the war.
Then he had a son he named Álvaro.
He's my mother's boyfriend. What do you think of that?
There's still something more, the best part.
After saying goodbye to your grandfather...
Otto walked through the woods...
and arrived at a bombed farmhouse.
There, he saw a man.
He was dead.
His daughter was crying inconsolably.
He was everything she had left in this world.
The girl ran away when she saw the pilot.
Otto ran after her through the woods.
Her name was Cristina.
She was only 17 and she could run very fast.
Until she fell down.
Otto just stood there, staring at her in such a way...
that she felt he was apologizing.
For everything.
And she was right.
Because Otto promised himself in silence...
that if she forgave him...
he would take her to a peaceful country and take care of her.
The cottage is right here.
Between a forest and a lake.
Just on the Arctic Circle.
You can have food delivered at home.
Even in the winter.
You have to talk to the shop in town.
I hope it's still open.
Since my wife died...
I haven't gone back there.
It's been seven years.
Cristina.
She was Spanish. Like you.
She looks very young here.
Almost a child.
Yes.
She was only 17 then.
She has been...
my whole life.
There was something else about that man.
Something I'm still curious about.
Why is your name Otto?
There's no explanation for it.
My life is full of unexplained things.
But Otto is a very common name in Germany.
Are you German?
Now I'm Finnish.
My name is the only thing I have left from Germany.
It's very geometric.
Otto.
My name is Ana.
I have already realized.
It reads the same...
forward...
as backward.
Do you want an explanation for that?
Yes.
Perhaps there is none.
Perhaps.
The day my wife died...
I received a letter from my son saying...
that he had fallen in love with a Spanish woman.
Why?
That day I was with my mother.
And I also received a present.
And now I have a beautiful Spanish granddaughter.
You are here thanks to Cristina.
I feel...
her hand in yours.
Thank you, Otto.
Pleased to meet you.
the arctic circle
I felt there was something known in the unknown.
I had reached the end of somewhere.
I had a feeling.
It was the first of many.
Once again, I was aware of the coincidence.
So I wasn 't surprised it could be Otto.
Otto?
I spent my days thinking of Otto.
Walking, I couldn't be still.
Waiting.
One morning, I heard the engine of a car.
It was a mail delivery van.
I thought that, if I ran after it, I would get it to bring something for me.
Come on, something for me.
Something for me.
Hi, Ana.
Hi, Mom.
Australia is the best place on Earth to start a new life.
Forget about the North.
And come to live with your mother.
The first thing I want you to know...
What?
...is that I think about you a lot.
More every day.
I had never thought of you this much. I'm sorry.
How are you? You even sound like a mother.
Your mother is growing old.
And good.
It was about time.
Wonderful. Fucking great.
Álvaro's father wrote us to say that he was pleased to meet you.
He says you're his granddaughter.
Y eah.
He's happy because you've brought life back into that house.
Cool.
By the way, his name is Otto.
But surely you know that already.
Of course.
But what you may not know...
is that Otto is a pilot.
Which Otto?
That story about the German pilot...
who bailed out and....
Well, never mind.
That story got so deep into your brother's weird mind that he's become a pilot.
What do you think?
We learned about it through a Spanish friend who took flying lessons with Otto.
We don't know where he works, but....
Well, never mind. His mind must be flying, as usual.
Otto the pilot. Of course.
Of course.
The Arctic Circle
How will this journey end?
66 degrees...
33 minutes...
40 seconds.
North.
2 degrees, 55 minutes...
5 seconds. East.
Tonight is Saint John's Day, and the sun doesn't set here.
I have a feeling that Spanish plane brings something for me.
For whom, if not me?
I will stay here as long as necessary.
I'm waiting for the biggest coincidence of my life.
The biggest of them all.
And I have seen many coincidences.
Yes.
I could tell my life story by splicing coincidences.
It is good that lives have several circles.
But mine, my life...
has only gone around once, yet the circle isn't closed.
The most important part is still missing.
I have written her name inside many times.
And here, right now, I cannot close anything.
I am alone.
Here.
Ana's eyes
What happened?
Translate this for me, please.
Don't worry.
That doesn't matter right now.
Inside...
there's someone who wants to see you.
Really? Who?
How did you get here?
I parachuted.
So you were on that plane.
It's him, isn't it?
The German pilot.
The one your grandfather smoked a cigarette with.
Of course.
Otto in Ana's eyes
You can ski upward, can't you?
In memory of my father.