Living is Easy With Eyes Closed

What a gentle, sweet little film this is. Fans of Local Hero will remember how it crept up and cast a spell over viewers. This film is similar.

Spain, 1966 and Franco is still in power. Antonio (Javier Càmara) is a likeable, naïve, eternal optimist who uses Beatles songs to teach his students English.

When he learns that his hero John Lennon is making a film in southern Spain he decides to drive there and meet him.

Along the way he picks up two hitchhikers: the pregnant Belén (Natalia de Molina) and Juanjo (Francesc Colomer), who is fleeing an over-strict father.

All three characters are looking for their own version of freedom – in a country that isn’t free.

There is so much local atmosphere you can almost taste the dust and feel the heat.

Beatles fans will love it, and a beautifully nostalgic guitar score by Pat Metheny heightens the mood throughout. (MMu)

***1/2 /5

BY MICHAEL MUIR