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Nasu: Summer in Andalusia [m] (2003)

Rating ... A (97)

The challenge - create Ghibli quality anime about professional cycling in only 45 minutes. It sounds like a sure bet 'against' for Werner Herzog but Nasu would find the German eating another shoe. Nasu hails from seasoned Japanese animation director Kitaro Kosaka but the coda - characterization without eminent plotting - is classic French. Pepe Benengeli is a Spanish pro-circuit cyclist participating in a race that runs through his home turf in Andalusia, though the prospects of revisiting his family and friends are less than exhilarating. Pepe's resentment is multi-layered; his idea of success involves money and fame but Andalusia endures economic penury for the sake of cultural and traditional clout. In the past he stole his brother's thunder by going pro at cycling while his brother (also an avid cyclist) performed military service, but when Pepe returns from his own tour of duty, the local hero discovers the deed reversed, his old flame seduced in return. And he's ideologically opposed to his extended family, a jovial but geographically planted bunch who represent his greatest aversions - condoning limited aspirations and settling for mediocrity.



Unsurprisingly, religion is a source of subtle strife between parties. His brother and former gal opt for a cathedral wedding - solemn and sanctified, whose consummating kiss occurs post-ceremony during the flamenco reception. Pepe's brush with religion is gracefully implied during an establishing shot of Madrid that initially fixates on the cross atop a cathedral, which slowly falls out of visibility as the shot reframes to Pepe. Religion, tradition, and family are all negative influences for Pepe because they mean a loss of personal control. Then the film scrutinizes the particulars of Pepe's existence - the fickle corporate sponsors, the teamwork (or lack thereof), the contests between cyclists of basically equal ability won by hundreths of a second, and even the family cat scrambling around on the race track - and Pepe comes to a gradual understanding even the most ambitious of go-getters are still fundamentally at the mercy of outside forces. The change is already set in motion by the time Pepe overdoes his Disneyland speech, where he sardonically applauds his sponsor and elides mention of his family, who cheerfully play damage control when they meet afterwards and Pepe acts like an impudent child, letting loose with an immature have-it-all display. The ending is a cinematic one-two punch, where Pepe figuratively relinquishes bull-by-the-horns ethos and embraces his national identity, instructing his teammates on the traditional way to eat Nasu. The scene irises in to the pickled eggplant, accompanied by the CHA-CHING! of the bell from a recreational bike. Nasu affirms tradition and amateurism, not out of laziness or social conformity, but rather as a method of fulfillment in the face of individual limitations.