Wintersleepers - Sognatori d'inverno

This is the first I have seen of Tom Tykwer's work. In a word, outstanding. This movie has all the necessary elements for a successful production and ensures a completely entertaining evening. The opening (and what an opening!) sets the mood..... A chilly landscape of deep snow with helicopter shots racing across treetops heavily weighed down with a recent fall.....And the music with its tremulous monotone suggests impending drama. I wait expectantly.....

Into the picture comes Rene. At first glance an odd-looking guy who suffers from a kind of amnesia. He knows his name and where he lives but can't remember anything else. That's why he photographs every little incident to jog his memory. Laura who works as a hospital nurse agrees he's a bit weird but is fascinated just the same. You get the feeling he's up to something.

Her friend Rebecca, an attractive blond who works as a translator is having trouble with her boy friend Marco. He's so possessive. They congregate in Laura's house where much of the dialogue takes place. Rebecca and Marco are continually arguing, falling in and out of love. These scenes are exceptional.

In some strange coincidence these four characters are in one way or another involved in the aftermath of a serious accident involving two cars swerving on the slippery highway. In one of the cars a farmer who is taking his horse float to the vet. is knocked unconscious. Later he is unable to convince the police that a second car was involved. So he sets out on a mission to find the other car and the man responsible for the death of his daughter who died in hospital as a result of the accident.

Marco the skiing instructor has an eye for the girls and there are some exciting scenes on the ski slopes as they engage the treacherous terrain. It's a matter of "Hold tight!" as the skiers disappear into the foggy atmosphere.

The snow bound landscape is for me a most unusual setting for the drama and I enjoyed every exciting minute. The ending left me almost open-mouthed! And I'm not telling!

When filmmakers attempt to do anything radical or completely experimental, critics often hit them hard with insults about how "unreal" or "amateur." But, hello, all of these new devices being used in films ARE unreal AND amateur because they're so innovational (since no one has tried them before). Tom Tykwer is exactly the sort of filmmaker that likes to take chances, who goes against the normal (sometimes recycled) cinematic techniques employed by the majority of the cinematic world. Here, in "Winter Sleepers," we see those revolutionary techniques that led to his international success in "Run Lola Run" in full bloom. The narrative is basically shallow, leaving many gaps in plot and dialogue, but this is done purposefully, and the filling of the gaps is left up to the cinematography, lighting, and color schemes. It is no surprise that Tykwer uses the subjective camera to convey the feelings of his characters (sometimes we fall to the ground in a flash of white when Laura blacks out, or we spin around in circles when Rene has a psychological episode). It is done for a purpose, and we can understand the turmoil that each goes through--without the reliance of a script.

The film can be seen as more character driven than plot. So, if you need the precious plot more than anything else, I wouldn't recommend this movie. But you should see this movie if you're at all interested in how an event can exponentially set off another set of events, continually building, until the life of every character (whether involved in the first event or not) changes forever.

Naturally, everybody saw "Run Lola Run" and liked it, just as I did.

And movieplexes, eager to cash in, probably scrambled for other T.Tykwer films, which is how and way the Century Landmark Theatre in Chicago was quick to put on "Winter Sleepers"

And it only lasted 2 weeks.

Which makes me very lucky to have seen it! It was a momentous surprise- just as much "Run Lola..." was dynamic and restless, this was dreamy and magical...

Scene after scene of quiet country life- often of desperation and lost chances and graet sorrow- and often wildly sexy. I usually take love scenes in movies as a simple plot device and hardly they are more than transparent tricks to keep one's attention on ( besides wall to wall soundtrack and car chases). Having said that, I have to admit that I hardly get so wound up after a movie love scene, as I did in this one, but here they were so intense and unforgettable ..

I also loved the fact that the film did not have a major plot line, following the standard Aristotellian curve- it just was and it ended without major fireworks, because this is how life is- it happens, it flows, it is felt, it is sometimes understood, it runs forward or slowly passes by, but it is almost never simplified to a beginning and a middle and an end. Very few films ever grasp this concept or very few filmmakers can relate it, but that is why film is such an elusive art.

Winter Sleepers, a film Tom Tykwer made before his brilliant Run Lola Run, shows some of his development. A few of the more dramatic shots were things he tried here first. From a technical point of view, the work is excellent: editing, photography, lighting, music, sets and locations were all beautifully delivered. At times, that's enough, but this is both an unrelentingly down story and it's probably about 25 minutes too long...a rough combination. I'm glad to have seen it; I enjoy Tykwer's vision and technical crispness; he knows how to grab your attention powerfully without resorting to cloying tricks like Spielberg. On the other hand, there aren't many people I would recommend Winter Sleepers to. Great work, so-so outcome.

I went to see "Winter Sleepers (Winterschläfer)" only because it's the same director as "Run Lola Run," though it turned out to be pre-"Lola."

It plays with the same theme of coincidences, though not with "what if's" of Lola or "Sliding Doors" or others in the genre. Rather, the audience knows what connects random people together to understand the misunderstandings and connections.

It's slow at spots (too much stuff that's almost French movie satires of a couple not looking at each other and smoking away) but the directing otherwise is very non-Hollywood intriguing, swooping and looking in at such odd angles, creating tension from a neat VERY unpredictable plot involving basically five or so people in a beautiful Bavaria.

I had no idea the German Alps could be so breathtakingly beautiful -- absolutely terrific stunts that will look puny if you see it on cable or video.

The pop soundtrack is again in English, but the director co-wrote the ambient music that is also used very-non-Hollywood in how it comments and builds up on the tension.

It's a bit long but a nice relief from too many Hollywood movies.(originally written 4/23/2000)