Kr·mpack (Nico and Dani)
Directed by Cesc Gay
Spain
SOUTH FLORIDA PREMIERE
With his parents out of the picture on an extended vacation, well-off
17 year-old Dani (rising young Spanish star Fernando Ramallo) has
a posh beach house all to himself, apart from the daily visits of
the two worldly-wise women who cook his meals and tutor him in English.ÝÝ
When gradeschool tough-kid chum Nico arrives (assured newcomer Jordi
Vilches), the summer seems blissfully complete.Ý At first, the fun
is all about prawn-fishing, rabbit-hunting, and - to get right to
the point - kr·mpack, or giving each other "hand-jobs."
Like the characters themselves, the film treats this as a perfectly
natural boyhood pastime, and the more complex feelings and desires
lurking beneath the surface at first remain unspoken.Ý When sexually
eager, no-nonsense Elena and her sweet, shy friend Berta hook up with
the boys, resentment and confusion take over. To complicate things
even further, Dani begins a flirtation with an older handsome writer-about-town
who's endearingly mixed-up himself, challenging Nico to face his own
feelings of affection as well.Ý The four young actors deliver stunningly
complex and authentic performances that continually draw us back into
that confounding, unformed quality of adolescent longing.Ý Nico
and Dani, winner of the Prix de Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival,
is a gentle Spanish coming-of-age story that is open ended and frankly
realistic in a way that American teen movies seldom are. In Spanish
with English subtitles.
$25 Ticket includes film screening, and Centerpiece party at the
HotelÝ Nash
FESTIVAL
CENTERPIECE