ATLANTIC. (2013) - ♦♦♦

Directed by - Jan-Willem van Ewijk 

Written by - Abdelhadi Samih, Jan-Willem van Ewijk

Starring - Fettah Lamara, Thekla Reuten

"Atlantic. is at once fascinating and frustrating. Its narrative, shown mostly disjointed, follows the adventure of a daring young Moroccan who aims to cross the 300km distance between Morocco and the European coast on his windsurf. Its open flirtations with poetic structure and illustrations of existential themes show great potential, however are mostly quite sparse and not as effective as one might find in works by the likes of Terence Malick or Alain Resnais. 

Nevertheless, the true power of this film comes from the cinematography, particulatly in its wonderful pastel like sequences of the sea in all its beauty and glory. 

Collectively, filmmaker Jan-Willem van Ewijk is quite able to build a great atmosphere and particularly represents the heaven like state of the vastness of the ocean to the much less flattering depiction of life on land, a representation in which even the leading characters feels quite suitably as a fish out of water. This atmosphere is further intensified by the music, whether it comes from tribal drums or beautiful strings. 

Overall, however, Atlantic. has little force and power in its intention, originality and narrative - even when such narrative is to be taken as highly interactive with the audience."

Drama, Germany/Netherlands/Belgium/Morocco/France