Live Is Life

What a wonderful movie this is! It reminded me of Rob Reiner's quintessential coming-of-age story "Stand by me" (1986), but here it has its own, specifically Spanish approach.

Somewhere around the eighties five close teenage friends go on a hiking trip on their bikes, with a vague purpose to find a supposed magic flower on some mountain-top, that when picked on mid-summers day should cure all diseases. They cycle through the countryside, make fun, bicker, get into mischief, have furious encounters with a group of vengeful thugs, and at last they reach their goal, in the process acquiring some important new insights in each other and in themselves.

The direction of Dani de la Torre is excellent, there is plenty of room for reflection, but still the pace never sags, every member of the little group gets his own background and attention, and although there are some pretty serious issues at hand (one of the kids is being treated for cancer, another one's father lies in coma in a hospital), and there are some very moving scenes (the one in the hospital actually brought me to tears!), the story never strives for cheap effect or gets melodramatic. The end leaves us guessing if the magic flower has worked, and that fits the story fine, it's life, that for the kids stays totally open for anything (good or bad) to happen.

The eighties are flawlessly rendered, the summer atmosphere is almost tangible, the photography is absolutely stunning, with breathtaking views of the Galician landscape, and I was amazed and very impressed at how natural and easy these five young kids played their at times pretty difficult parts!

In short, a definite must-see and an absolute 10 out of 10!!