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Nico and Dani | 
| Director: Cesc Gay
Actors: Fernando Ramallo, Jordi Vilches, Marieta Orozco, Esther Nubiola, Chisco Amado
Studio: New Yorker Video
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $15.00
You Save: $4.95 (25%)
New (2) Used (5) from $4.70
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 31255
Format: Color, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: Catalan (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 90 Minutes
ISBN: 1567302467
UPC: 717119828134
EAN: 9781567302462
ASIN: B00005QASO
Theatrical Release Date: February 2, 2001
Release Date: November 13, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
In America, two boys at the beach with no parental supervision leads to dumb, artificial sex comedies; in Europe, the same material can turn into something genuine and sweet. In a small seaside town near Barcelona, Nico comes to visit his best friend Dani, whose parents are away for the summer. They have the typical male teenager obsessions with masturbation and girls--but Dani is just beginning to realize that he's more interested in Nico than the local girls they've been flirting with. The setup isn't unusual, but what is remarkable about Nico and Dani is the unforced naturalism of the acting and the way the story unfolds. All the young actors give simple but nuanced performances, capturing in detail the charming awkwardness of adolescence, with frank sex scenes that are more clumsy and hopeful than erotic. Winner of the Prix de Jeunesse award at Cannes. --Bret Fetzer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
This spoke to me! March 16, 2008
Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA)
I was never this lucky in my youth, so I don't speak from experience. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. First, many say there's not enough work about gay youth and this fills that void, given the fear that some cultures have about teen sexuality, and specifically male-on-male action. Many people say actions come before identfications. There are adults who are far different from the children they were "playing doctor." This movie shows what happens as boys who mess around start to have a sexual identity and that sometimes this leads to two divergent paths. Many accounts say that boys fool around until somebody says something homophobic and the boys are faced with harsh reality. Imagine if the couple in "Brokeback Mountain" were teens, rather than adults. Some of those same tensions and realities are present here.
This work is realistic in that it features two pimply, fun-chasing, law-breaking teens. However, in US cinema, actors who aren't cute rarely get parts. It was shocking to see such average-looking persons in leading roles.
I wish my own country could come up with works this daring and true-to-life.
That Certain Summer November 28, 2007
H. F. Corbin (ATLANTA, GA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dani (Fernando Ramallo) and Nico (Jordi Vilches) are two teenage friends who spend one summer together in the seaside near Barcelona. They are skinny, a bit awkward and average in looks, a lot like a lot of sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys who are experimenting with sex with each other and with girls. It may be just a phase that Nico is going through but Dani figures out, and is comfortable with his feelings, that he would rather spend time with Nico than with anyone else. As he tells Nico on one occasion: "I would watch you all day long." The film is in no way exploitive and shouldn't offend the most conservative of viewers. The sex between the young men hardly exists; the small amount of nudity is tastefully done. The naturalism of the film is refreshing and totally believable.
The two young men spend a lot of time on the beach in scenes that are beautifully filmed in this sweet coming-of-age film that will not disappoint you.
 Lovely coming-of-age film January 9, 2007
Nina (England)
I bought this film for its promise of sunshine, feel-good charm, adolescent awakening and a tolerant treatment of homosexuality, and that's just what I got. It is a hundred percent enjoyable film of one summer in the lives of two friends. It is very refreshing to see a Spanish treatment of sexuality that is frank, funny and open without being tasteless -- what a liberating contrast to they way these things appear in most Hollywood films. The film is based on a successful play, and this shows in the thoughtful script. The two main characters are a delight: I have rarely seen such an almost cringe-makingly true-to-my-owm-memories rendition of teenage awkwardness. At the same time, these boys are not riven by angst but fumble their way through to a happy self-acceptance.
A Prize Winner December 21, 2006
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
"NICO AND DANI"
A Prize Winner
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
"Nico and Dan" (New Yorker Films) is a beautiful story of two French young men who come of age in a subtle, humorous, compassionate and perceptive way. Set in a resort town on the Mediterranean Sea, the parents of 16 year old Dani have taken off knowing that their son's best friend and schoolmate, Nico, is on his way to stay with him while they are traveling. The boy are not left totally alone-the family cook is with them as is Dani's English tutor, who has her own vested interest in him as Dani wants to become a writer. In fact Dani has already begun writing a novel and is on his way to the university. Nico, on the other hand, is satisfied in becoming a mechanic.
Like most boys their age, the female of the species is a prize to be won and when the guys meet two girls running on the beach, their summer begins to look bright.
The basic theme of the film seems to me to be the differences between appearance and reality. Nico and Dani are both virgins and they have only experienced sexual release by helping each other out. Nico finds it entertaining but Dani is developing an emotional attachment for him that is not based just upon friendship and it becomes more and more difficult for him to mask his feelings. Dani is discovering that he is gay and he is worried how it will affect his friendship with Nico. Nico meanwhile is developing a feeling for one of the girls and they are having sex.
The two boys have reached a critical point in their lives as well as a moment of transition. The have no idea how to manage their rites of passage. The real importance of the film is the way it deals with how to tell your best friend of your feelings and the film has a great deal of sexual candor than American movies who deal with the same subject. It also has great sensitivity and is photographed almost as if it were to hang in an art gallery.
We see that adolescent years are not always the best as people seem to think, They are years filled with self-doubt, fears and experimentation. Hey are awkward years and are many times embarrassing and painful but they are a period we must all go through.
The main strength of the film is the way it observes the struggles of the boys without sermonizing about them and there is no moral at the end; loose ends are left for the viewer to tie together. It is simply a brief but intense look at the turning point in the lives of the boys and allows us to watch them explore themselves, their psyches, and each other.
This is far from a perfect movie but as a coming-of-age film it is excellent mainly because the movie is driven by the characters, two very likeable boys at the brink of manhood. It is a look into sexual confusion, something that many of us face. Some of the scenes are candid and highly sexual but they are necessary and are not lurid in any way. The two boys are good looking young men and ably fill the shoes the roles demand. This is a positive portrayal and the boys are never depicted as abnormal or outcast and indirectly the film asks its viewers to accept the normality of same-sex love.
Nostalgic Nico y Dani September 29, 2005
Fox Brasil (Ventura, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can't say that when I saw this movie for the first time I loved it. It was probably the 3rd time I saw it on cable, that I truly loved it. This film has so many aspects to it that really take me back to my adolescent years. And also having traveled to Spain back in High School, this brought back a lot of good memories. I loved it! It brought back my days of coming to terms with my sexuality but also just being a dumb adolescent male. The sex, the joints, the beach. Everything in this movie makes me smile. One scene that I love is toward the end, they are running in the mountains, there is an english song playing (If anyone knows how I can get a copy of the soundtrack please let me know). Nico y Dani just epitomizes my memories of that time. This movie is one of my favorite movies and I agree that I never get bored of watching it.
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