Eva (2011)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2011
	Director: Kike Maíllo
	Actors: Daniel Brühl (Good By Lenin, Inglorious Basterds), Marta Etura, Alberto Ammann
	Country: E
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 31.08.2012, City Kino, MFFF2012
Synopsis: Alex, genius in robotics psychology, comes back to the city where he studied in order to design a new kind of robot child. He will meet his former colleagues, teachers, his brother who married Alex's ex-girlfriend, and the daughter of the couple, Eva.
Review: This is what I could call an efficient spanish SF movie with a heart. The questions raised are close to some ones in A.I. and the comparison cannot be avoided, as the first topic encountered in both movies is the creation of a child robot with feelings. But the comparison stops here, and the Spanish movie shows no intention of rivalry against the Hollywood blockbuster. While Spielberg placed his movie in a rather far future in which men have a paradoxal relationship with robots (they hate them but need them at the same time), here the environment is much more familiar, and the advances in technology are discrete and displayed with parcimony, very much like in Children of Man (only mobile phones, cars and some home appliances look futuristic, and of course a few robots). The choice of the location (a small Swiss-looking city, covered in snow during the whole movie) is a bit disturbing as all the cast speaks spanish, but is actually very good to help the reader immerge in the story and identify with the characters. The actors are pretty convincing, like the little Eva, Alex (whom I learned can play as well in Spanish or German) and the butler-robot. I also found the story very well written, although predictable at times, and slow at others.
Rating: 9 /10