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NICO AND DANI
Cesc Gay’s charming, rough-around-the-edges feature is an honest and mostly good-natured (though there is that troubling date-rape scene) story about growing up spoiled and horny in upper-class Spain. Arriving at the seacoast villa of his pal Dani (Eddie Haskell look-alike Fernando Ramallo), scrawny, down-to-earth Nico (sparrow-like Jordi Vilches) announces to Dani that he intends to lose his virginity by the end of vacation. In the meantime Nico and Dani practice at night what they call " krámpack " (the film’s Spanish title), a kind of mutual masturbation; the krámpack gets a little out of hand and Dani develops a crush on Nico that hides sinister shadows of jealousy and treachery under the beachy sunniness. A kindhearted older gay writer adds a comforting and melancholy touch in this uncompromising but uplifting look at the heart’s strangeness and resiliency. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Issue Date: May 31- June 7, 2001
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