Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed (2013)

In Spain in 1966, an English teacher picks up two hitchhikers on his quest to meet John Lennon.

Director:

David Trueba

Writer:

David Trueba

Stars:

Javier Cámara, Natalia de Molina, Francesc Colomer

19 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Javier Cámara	...	Antonio
Natalia de Molina	...	Belén
Francesc Colomer	...	Juanjo
Ramon Fontserè	...	Ramón
Rogelio Fernández	...	Bruno
Jorge Sanz	...	Padre
Ariadna Gil	...	Madre
Violeta Rodríguez	...	Julia
Léo Rodríguez	...	Javi
Tristán Rodríguez	...	Jesús
Olivia Trueba	...	Maribel
Catalina Sagredo	...	Bebé
Joaquín Fernández	...	Clase Colegio
Sasha Di Bendetto	...	Clase Colegio
Rodrigo Pascual	...	Clase Colegio

Storyline

Spain, 1966, a high-school English/Latin teacher, Antonio, drives to Almeria in hopes of meeting his hero, John Lennon. Along the way, Antonio picks up two runaways. The movie title, Living is Easy With Eyes Closed, comes from a line in Lennon's song Strawberry Fields Forever which he wrote while filming How I Won the War in Almeria.

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Plot Keywords:

hitchhiker | english teacher | runaway boy | hitchhiking | reference to the beatles | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Spain to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie, it is stated that, after the events depicted in the film, all Beatles LPs included printed lyrics. This is not true: The LPs that featured lyrics were Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour (Capitol LP and Parlophone EP), and The Beatles (AKA The White Album). Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be didn't include them.

Although Yellow Submarine was not a "true" Beatles LP (featuring just one side of Beatles' music, 2 songs already released and the other unreleased 4 recorded two years ago, we can say then the only two LPs that didn't feature the lyrics are Abbey Road and Let It Be.

Some post-breakup releases included printed lyrics: 1973: 1962-1966 (Red Album), 1967-1970 (Blue Album), 1977: Love Songs.

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Connections

Features How I Won the War (1967)

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Soundtracks

I Like Twist
Written by Part & Mondstein

User Reviews

A heart-warming story

"Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed" is a beautiful movie. The acting and direction are charming and fresh. I particularly loved the film and felt connected to it, even though I am not the greatest Beatles fan.

The story is of an English teacher, obsessed with The Beatles, particularly with John Lennon. He is planning to meet John Lennon in person and ask him a bunch of questions, or maybe simply talk to him. Don't all of us dream of doing the same with our favorite celebrity? On his way, while driving his cute 60s car, he picks up two young hitchhikers.

The story has a slow pace, focusing on characters rather than action. The pace allows us to get acquainted with the characters, know their stories and their purposes. The pace might be too slow for some people, I am pretty sure my boyfriend doze off for some minutes while watching.

As for me, I loved the way the characters were developed, while the actors portrayed them beautifully. I loved the relationship between Antonio, a middle-aged guy, and the two young hitchhikers, one of whom is only sixteen: while he occasionally gives them some lessons about life ("no matter what you do, you cannot live in fear!"), he treats them as adults and respects their decisions ("you must have been an adult when you got into this situation, I'm sure you'll solve it as an adult").

A gorgeous little gem to watch, it has a heart-warming feeling and some characters that are as human as they can get.

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

31 October 2013 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,600, 29 June 2014

Gross USA:

$11,600

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,075,169

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fernando Trueba Producciones Cinematográficas, Televisión Española (TVE), Canal+ España

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1