The Winter Guest (1997)

In this astonishingly beautiful drama, recently widowed photographer Frances (Academy Award(c) winner Emma Thompson) lives with her increasingly distant son and finds her life radically changed with the arrival of her mother, Elspeth (Phyllida Law, Thompson#s real-life mother). In a remote Scottish village, this family and the people around them are forever changed on the coldest day of the year as hearts begin to melt.

Recently widowed photographer Frances (Academy Award winner Emma Thompson) lives with her increasingly distant son and finds her life radically changed with the arrival of her mother, Elspeth.

The Winter Guest

I'm not really sure what attracted me to this film, but once I started watching it I couldn't stop. Perhaps it was the dreariness of the setting, or the obnoxiousness of the dialog, but I guess the main reason I watched was to see if a plot ever realy developed. I kept hoping that something of significance would eventually happen, but it really never did.

The characters are quirky and shallow. You don't know much more about them than when the film began. The older mother kept asking her adult daughter if she would be moving to Australia. To me it was a simple yes/no question, but the daughter couldn't come out and give a yes or a no. The two elderly women heading to a out of town funeral don't do much to carry the stroy, either. The young man and woman have their moments, but they, too don't add much to the story. The two young boys who skipped school have the most involved conversation, though it becomes tedious in its own right.

In the end, nothing really jumped out at me and said this was something that warranted the time I spent watching it. If you like boring quirky movies then this should appeal to you. If you want to see characters develop and move through some type of conflict to a resolution, then look somewhere else. October 6, 2008

The Winter Guest

"Come in from the cold" the tagline to 1997's The Winter Guest invites us, and viewers who accept this faint beckoning soon look on as the cast of this unique production from Scotland does just that in one singularly metaphorical fashion or another. This is a quiet movie that says little with the spoken word and yet still tells one of the most poignantly rich stories ever committed to film. The Winter Guest takes place all in one frozen winter day in a town in rural Scotland, and brings four intertwined vignettes together as it imparts its barely whispered and unforgettable tales. There is a grieving young widow's resistance to her mother's attempts to brings her out of her deep depression; there are two boys who skip school and retreat to the frozen seashore to hide out for the day in this the last winter of their already fleeting childhood; there are two elderly ladies who bravely stare back at death by traveling to funerals of people barely known to them; and there is an eccentric girl, Nita, who forces a boy she fancies---Alex, the son of the widow, Frances, played by Emma Thompson---to finally take notice of her via a playfully serious confrontation amid the ice-covered streets of the little town they share. The Winter Guest would simply never have been made in America, nor could it have been. It is a story that requires patience, sensitivity, and insight into the human condition, and for the investment of all of these, returns a sort of intelligently psychological motion picture that is all but extinct in this decade. December 5, 2007

Wonderful, I loved it.

I thought this was a wonderful movie of human interest. Four stories occur simultaneously: two youngish boys with a kitten discussing currently relevant things to them, a mother coming to visit her widowed daughter with both hashing out and trying to settle many issues, two teenagers exploring and testing each other, and two elderly ladies taking a trip to attend a funeral. The four separate stories are nicely joined with one another with interesting dialogue and events. The settings are absolutely gorgeous, although stark. The music is wonderful, makes me want to buy the soundtrack. Alan Rickman, the director, makes a brief cameo appearance when he slips on the ice and bumps into the two elderly women. The mother/daughter pair, echoed in real life by the mother/daughter actors, is probably the most poignant of the four stories and is a very touching study of grief and family relationships. I loved this film and I plan to watch it again. November 12, 2007

Take me with You on life's journey

World famous actor Alan Rickman cowrote and directed this sleepy little gem of a film.As seen in lives of four pairings of people on a single cold winter's day in Scotland, musings and observations about life from the cradle to the grave and the necessity for connection through it all are explored.The screenplay is adapted from a play which is quite obvious in watching this character-rich drama,touched with sincerity and sagacity, sometimes beyond it's years.

The first coupling of people is an elderly mother and recently widowed daughter; the second, two spinsterly ladies; third, a teenage boy and the new girl in town; and lastly two pubescent boy chums playing hooky from school. Each coupling is given ample weight and time to ruminate on life, it's meaning, it's hopes and it's dreams,it's ending and the need for human (and even animal) companionship. The acting is absolutely superb and is a must see for fans of the live theatre who enjoy low action, heavy dialogue and thought prevoking entertainment. What is most impressive about this film is the deliberate pacing and weight given to each word and action very much like a play. Every moment counts in this film. Nothing is a throwaway. The scenery is intentionally cold and bleak and the lack of warm colours throughout most of the film serve to heighten the angst greatly.

WINTER GUEST is an incredibly intimate film and will probably be enjoyed and savoured most either alone or with a special someone. Settle in with this film as it is a rare piece of art!

Michael Kamen's soundtrack of piano and light orchestra is positively inspired to underscore the intensity of this dramatic masterpiece.This set this film apart from just being a play on film along with the cinematography of genius Seamus McGarvey who contrasts the vastness of the frozen sea with the closeup of the human face.....really first class!!!

An excellent companion piece to WINTER GUEST would be SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE which explores the similar theme of the importance of connection. June 2, 2007

Wonderful look into people's lives: if you are into that(!)

This is NOT an action thriller. It is quiet and studied.
But it's not Disney either: it stares hard into life's
awkward joys and painful times. This is a beautiful
psychological drama
about the transitional crises at all times of life,
and I got a surprising existential epiphany from it.
(about the two basic things you need to get on in life..
..see if you can find the commonalities!)
Pre-teen angst, young teen, widowed, and end-of-life concerns,
in a pretty, stark Scottish town on a frigid day.
It's up there with Groundhog Day, The Seventh Seal,
Lost In Translation, and The Spitfire Grill in my
meaning-of-life collection. Emma got slightly not-ring-true
a few times, but they all had funny, hard, bittersweet,
and enlightened times. Lovely group meeting scenes on the beach.
Thoughtful story, great cinematography,
good philosophical stuff.


January 10, 2007

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