The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

In synopsis The Sweet Hereafter may sound like a devastatingly unpleasant downer, but don't be discouraged. The real subjects of this luminous picture (adapted by director Atom Egoyan from Russell Banks's novel) are hope and renewal--avoiding the cheap emotions suggested by those clichéd terms. Like other Egoyan films (Exotica, for one), it's an intriguing sort of mystery, a puzzle in which the big picture is not revealed until the very last piece is in place. A metropolitan attorney (Ian Holm) travels to a small British Columbian town where 14 children have been killed in a school bus accident to prepare a class-action suit. With sensitivity and empathy, he approaches relatives with promises that the suit will give focus and closure to their grief. And as he investigates the circumstances of the accident, he not only uncovers a few local secrets, but dredges up some painful pieces of his own past. Slowly, deeper mysteries are revealed--eternal mysteries at the very heart of human nature: Who is to blame for a tragedy like this? And why do people feel such a need to assign blame? Is that how they give meaning to otherwise inconceivable events? How does one reassemble a shattered life? The Sweet Hereafter is too honest to offer bromides, but it shows how a few people struggle, as best they can, to answer these questions for themselves. DVD extras include audio commentary by Egoyan and Banks, a Charlie Rose interview with Egoyan, and a panel discussion with the filmmakers. --Jim Emerson Amazon.com

The Sweet Hereafter Platinum Series

Great movie, but the promised extras in the "Platinum Series" fell short. In fact, one menu item didn't even play. July 4, 2008

Bleak in theme, but amazingly well made.

A school bus careens off a snowy road and onto a frozen lake. Within seconds, the next act will change the many lives within a frosty upstate New York community. One father will turn to an extramarital affair, one girl will position herself to obtain the sweetest form of revenge on her abusive father, and a greedy, yet somehow earnest, attorney will turn to face his own domestic demons and the past that hauntingly mocks him.

The Sweet Hereafter is the type of film that captures the complete attention of the audience with its virtuoso adaptation from novel to film. It is perhaps one of the most lingering films I've ever seen, and when the closing scenes depicts the forthcoming headlights shining through thin curtains as a young teenaged girl stares back at them with brittle anticipation, you will know why.
June 16, 2008

Amazing and haunting. It will stay with you.

I came across the title of this film while researching movies starring Sarah Polley, who's an amazing actress (and now director). Polley is one of those talents who is underused and underrated--a true diamond in the rough.
At any rate, I did not know of this movie or the book version and gave the film a try. I was not at all let down. In fact, I feel as though I discovered a film to add to my short list of favorites.
Polley plays a teen whose life is altered in the aftermath of a schoolbus crash. One of the only survivors of the crash, her testimony is important to the case being brought by an out-of-town attorney (played by Ian Holm) who shows up seemingly out of nowhere to stir up a case for the parents left childless or those otherwise affected by the crash. Holm's character, Stephens, is intriguing and viewers are left to wonder if he was drawn to this case out of greed or to quell his own internal demons.
The movie is haunting. The characters, though from this simple town (in fact, even the landscape is black and white--changing only at the very end), are multidimensional and layered with complexity and secrets. The outcome of the film is unexpected yet necessary.
The Sweet Hereafter is a film you won't soon forget. March 1, 2008

It left me speechless...

I had waited forever to watch this movie, and it was totally worth it. It was a sad drama that did seem to move slowly, but it was actually weavving a very intricate web. This is a movie I will be buying, the acting was great, these people seemed so real and their characters were well devloped. As a mother who has lost a child, it really hit close to home. Had there been a lawsuit, I would not want anything to do with it because every dollar I spent would feel like I was paying for it with his blood. It was so haunting and devastaing, but the young girl and the man who has lost his whole family gave me hope. I was glad that the girl who's father looked at her with lust, then as nothing, got her "revenge", while doing what was best for the town as well. February 5, 2008

Loss, Pain and Survival

This fine 1997 film deals with loss, pain and survival within a small community after a devastating school bus accident in which a number of the town's children perish. Director Atom Egoyan paints in emotional and musical grays in this telling through flashbacks of the story around which the characters attempt to continue to live their lives. Even though we know from the outset that the accident happens, the event itself isn't shown until well into the film. It isn't sensationalized, and its simple, quick passing happens from a distance.

I've enjoyed Bruce Greenwood for many years, but I've never been moved my his performance until this viewing of this film. And Gabrielle Rose is marvelous as the heartbroken suriving bus driver, Doloris. Ian Holm plays an attorney you'd like to hate, but he's turned into a human being under his own pains. My girlfriend noted that young Sarah Polley ("Nicole") probably learned a few things from Egoyan prior to her own excellently directed film (AWay From Her, 2006) which Egoyan produced. January 4, 2008

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