| NICO
AND DANI Krámpack |
 2000
- Spain
Director: Cesc Gay - Reviewed by Tim  Ah…
the coming of age story. Most of them are done
well, but then there are some that do not live up to expectations. This one
does.
Krámpack is the story of two friends, Dani (Fernando Ramallo) and Nico (Jordi Vilches). Nico has traveled from Barcelona to spend the summers at Dani’s coastal family home for a couple years now, and the two have grown to be quite good friends. This year, it seems, they are both at that stage of, well, you know, certain urges. At the age of around 15, the two are set on spending the summer fishing, swimming and just slacking (boy, I know how that is) but things don’t go quite as planned.... Along the way, the two connect with Elena (Marieta Orozco) and Berta (Esther Nubiola), a couple of local girls who Dani has known. Soon, the quartet splits into pairs and they begin the summer on a good note. As Dani and Nico make plans with the girls, their previous plans for the summer are pushed to the side. This does not bother Nico, because he’s having fun, but Dani feels that the girls are cutting into the summer that they had planned. It’s apparent that Dani’s feelings for Nico are a bit more than just friendship. As the summer progresses, so does the experimentation that is happening between the boys. To Nico, it appears to be experimentation only, but to Dani it’s more. The premise of the movie is summed up with what has already been said, but the story is dotted with a couple of characters that add a certain sassiness. There is Marianne (Myriam Mézičres), the woman who comes in twice a day to prepare the meals, and there's Dani’s writing instructor Sonia (Ana Gracia). They both play small parts in the story, but they give some off-the-cuff lines that add a good sense of humor to the film. Fernando Ramallo (Dani) gives the performance of a somewhat cocky and self-righteous young guy with ease. He has a couple of facial expressions that convey these qualities well. Jordi Vilches (Nico) plays the part of a girl-crazy kid well, even though there is absolutely no mention of the fact that he is as skinny as a rail. This definitely adds to the ease of believing he is an awkward teen. This is a good story of friendship and the endurance of sensitive situations. In the end, you like both main characters very much and know that they will be able to remain friends. The film is being released in the U.S. under the title of Nico and Dani. I have yet to find a definition of "krámpack", so I believe that the decision to release the film under the altered title is prudent, since American audiences wouldn’t know what the heck the movie was about. If you see it listed in your local paper, go and see the film, it will be worth the money. |
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