Eva (2011 film)

Eva is a 2011 Spanish science fiction film directed by Kike Maíllo. It was released on 7 September 2011 at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, where it was screened out of competition. The film stars Daniel Brühl, Marta Etura, Lluís Homar and Alberto Ammann.

Eva was nominated in twelve categories at the 26th Goya Awards, scoring three wins — Best New Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Special Effects. It earned nominations for Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Make Up and Hairstyles, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Production Supervision and Best Sound. The film was also nominated for sixteen Gaudí Awards, winning five.

The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 13, 2015 by The Weinstein Company.^[1]

Plot

The film is set in 2041, in the time when humans live along with machines. Álex (Daniel Brühl), a renowned cybernetic engineer, returns to Santa Irene to carry out a very specific mission for the Robotic Faculty — to create a child robot. During his ten–year absence, life has moved on for his brother David (Alberto Ammann) and for Lana (Marta Etura), who married David after Álex's departure. Álex's routine is altered in an unexpected ways by Eva (Claudia Vega), Lana and David's charismatic daughter. She and Álex have a special connection from the moment they meet. They set out on a journey together, which will bring them to a revelatory end.

Cast

• Daniel Brühl as Álex, the robot engineer.
• Marta Etura as Lana, a former lover of Álex.
• Lluís Homar as Max, robotic butler.
• Alberto Ammann as David, Álex's brother and Lana's lover.
• Claudia Vega as Eva, Lana's child.
• Anne Canovas as Julia, head of the robotics program.

Shooting

Atmosphere

The film combines computer generated imagery of robots and engineering devices and retro clothing and props (like a Saab 900 car), pre-European Union Spanish license plates or people smoking.

Locations

La Chaux-de-Fonds in winter.

The film was shot^[2] at the province of Barcelona (interior scenes), Panticosa (Huesca), La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland), and Tenerife (the final scene).

Release

Eva was first screened out of competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, on 7 September 2011.^[3] Subsequently, it opened the Sitges Film Festival on 6 October 2011.^[4] The film had its theatrical release in Spain on 28 October. On 4 January 2012, Eva was released in Russia. It also had its French premiere at the Angers European First Film Festival on 24 January.^[5] On 27 January, the film was screened at the Gérardmer Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.^[6] EVA will be shown at the Festival of Iberian and Latin American Cinema in Villeurbanne,^[7] after which it will be released in French cinemas. On March 13, 2015 the film was released in select theaters in the United States courtesy of The Weinstein Company.^[8]

Reception

Critical response

Eva received generally positive reviews from film critics. Miguel Juan Payán of the Acción Cine described the film as a "brave science fiction exercise", and compared it to classics such as Frankenstein, Metropolis, Blade Runner and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He awarded the film with five out of five points, and especially praised the performances of the cast members.^[9] Ignacio Lasierra of the Cine para leer also reviewed the film positively, calling it a "strong and beautiful film with robots."^[10] The website Critics Cinema gave Eva 4.5 out of five stars and described it as "an intelligent film that, aparts from notable effects, also offers interesting and emotional stories."^[11]

However, Olivier Bachelard of the French web site Abus de ciné felt the "tension build gradually, but without reaching the summit, [...] It remains politically correct, generates little suspense and remains in the area of the nice picture. [...] We would have seen a real thriller. They preferred to give us a little sci–fi targeting families."^[12] Carlos Fernández Castro of the Spanish blog Bandeja de Plata gave the film 4.5 points out of five, praising Claudia Vega's portrayal of Eva. In contrast to that, he named the performance of Daniel Brühl as "odd since the moment he had appeared in the film," and the character of Marta Etura as "shallow."^[13]

Awards and nominations

See also

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Blade Runner

References

External links

• Official website
• Eva at the Internet Movie Database
• "¿Qué ves cuando cierras los ojos?" (Spanish)- Article related with the film