Eva - DVD

Film: In 2041, young cyber-engineer Alex Garel (Daniel Brühl) receives an offer from his former university to continue his research there on the development of a child robot, which he stopped ten years ago. When he meets his brother David (Alberto Ammann) again, old wounds are reopened, although the brothers are happy to finally see each other again after ten years. But David is now involved with Lana (Marta Etura), Alex's ex, and the two have a harmonious relationship with their daughter Eva (Claudia Vega). But there are unresolved issues between Alex and Lana that make it difficult for the engineer to concentrate fully on his work. An unexpected source of inspiration, however, is Eva, who fascinates Alex right away with her interested and inquiring nature. A bond quickly develops between the two, which on the one hand inspires Alex to new heights in the development of the robot, but on the other hand also makes him think again and again about the ethical limits of his work. But Alex has no idea that there is a secret that could fundamentally change all his convictions about his work...

Eva is the feature debut of Kike Maillo, which has been nominated 12 times for the Spanish Oscar Goya and, in addition to three trophies there, has also won heavily at other awards ceremonies. Maillo has created a very nice mixture of drama and fantasy, whereby the moral-ethical questions the film raises are strongly reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's A.I. - Artificial Intelligence. Both films deal with the question of what makes a human being human and to what extent machines can and should also internalize this form of humanity.

Also, this question is discussed in both films by means of child robots and thereby extended to whether humanized robots could actually be the substitute for one's own child. While these parallels are very obvious, Maillo ultimately takes a very unique approach to telling his story. His approach is much more intimate than the one Spielberg took. The very special relationship between Eva and Alex takes center stage, as do the demons from the engineer's past that force him to make a very clear ethical choice, especially at the end.

The rather quiet mise-en-scène may make the film somewhat inaccessible to mainstream audiences accustomed to action. To many a viewer expecting something different from the futuristic robot theme, the story might therefore come across as downright boring. But if you want to see a drama infused with fantastic elements, this is exactly the right movie for you. Not only lead actor Daniel Brühl is convincing, also the other characters are very well cast. Especially Claudia Vega leaves a good impression as a somewhat cheeky, but still very vulnerable Eva.

Side characters such as auxiliary robot Max, wonderfully portrayed by Lluis Homar (Torn Embraces) and rather discreet, but technically very well implemented special effects then ensure that the film knows how to entertain on several levels. Even if especially in the second half some minor lengths arise and the film as a whole is not quite able to exploit the potential that offers him his story, so Eva is, on balance, a very successful feature film debut, which can certainly please as a kind of little sister of A.I. - Artificial Intelligence. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The very clean image reveals very good detail. The warm coloration and harmonious contrasts also ensure that the film's visuals leave a positive impression overall. This is also true of the audio, which has some well-executed sound effects to break up the overall rather quiet proceedings pleasantly every now and then. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is a Making of (about 20 min.) in Spanish with German subtitles to see on the DVD in addition to the trailer for the film. This is a typical promo making of, but still offers a pretty good insight into the production of Kike Maillo's feature film debut.

Conclusion: Eva is a quiet drama with a light science fiction touch, which not only tells an interesting and sometimes quite touching story, but also raises exciting questions around ethics and science, which are worth thinking about after this film. Due to the rather ponderous staging, there are a few little lenghts especially in the middle part, but all in all the film can convince with its good actors and the captivating pictures until the haunting finale. The good technical realization and the quite revealing making of are two more good reasons to buy this disc. Beautiful fantasy art house cinema that can be warmly recommended to viewers who like it a little quieter at times

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp