Fora da Trilha

Is this the best film in the world..no but then again it's definitely not the worst. Considering its small budget it has been beautifully shot. Some of the Northern Irish accents are a bit dodgy but the main actors manage it well. Lara Lemon won best supporting actress at the New York film festival and best actress at the Southampton film festival and these are not given out lightly. What I don't understand are the Mr. Angry reviews. Very strange ! Watch it you won't be disappointed. Lara Lemon has a brilliant name and is memorizing to watch. She's one to watch for the future For a small budget it was excellent

Off Piste could have been an exceptional film, with more careful handling.

Sharper, more intelligent narrative and a simpler, more considered story line, with perhaps the IRA, taking the place of the weird sociopath forlorn boyfriend/sidekick thing, would could have seen this film shine.

Indeed, the last quarter of the film is very watchable and hints at what this film could have achieved. Six out of ten from me.

The DVD cover gives the impression that this is a one-man revenge story, but you will be surprised as to who is really out for revenge, and what the cost of that will be.

The two central characters lives are torn apart after a British soldier kills a young boy during an IRA meeting raid. Years later the soldier is in seclusion still trying to come to terms with what he did. Meanwhile the boy's older sister, now a woman, seeks the soldier out.

Both actors bring a quiet humanity to their roles and as the layers of hate and imagined monsters start to peel away what could have been a simple story develops into a more complex exploration of the struggle for forgiveness; to yourself and to others.

Beautifully shot on location, with some stunning aerial photography. It is the two main actors who hold the attention Henry Douthwaite is compelling fighting his inner demons. And it says everything that the wonderful Lara Lemon has won a Best Supporting Actress Award for this film, heartbreakingly displaying the struggle between a need for revenge and the growing realisation that this will not bring her happiness.

An impressive project made on a small budget. Give it a watch if you want to see some great upcoming talent before they become big stars.

Looking at the cover of "Off Piste", you're expecting a pure survival movie full of action and chases in a French snowy landscape. That's not the case. It's rather a psychological drama in which processing a traumatic experience is the central theme. First we meet Stanley Winters (Henry Douthwaite) who during a military raid on a local pub, where I.R.A. members were discussing something, accidentally shot the young son of one of these members. And then there's Niamh O'Brien (Lara Lemon) who witnessed the death of her younger brother and father that evening as a young girl. Both are struggling with the past. Stanley stows away his military combat uniform after this incident and moves to the French Alps where he'll live with his blind mother (Yvonne O'Grady) in a remote mountain cabin. There he tries to find inner peace.

As Niamh discovers the real truth about the death of her father and brother, she leaves Ireland confidently and travels to the French mountain village. The further progress of the story seems to be evident. You can only guess what motives Niamh has to find those responsible. Is it to avenge her loss? A revenge because her life ended up in a series of depressions? Or is it because she wants to deal with the past and finally be able to leave it all behind? That the person who took care of her afterwards still has a dossier lying around about Winters, is an indication about the unlikely and the sometimes nonsensical events.

I liked the psychological aspect and thought it was interesting enough. Stanley struggling with his inner demons and using a female psychiatrist (who displays more uncertainties than her patient) to channel his recovery. Even Stanley's mother tries to get her son back on the right path so that he rediscovers the meaning of life. That's why she acts like a mother hen, the moment Niamh arrives. As a true matchmaker she tries to hook them up. She isn't aware of the dreadful link that connects the two.

What's the flaw in this film you wonder? The absurdity of the two idiotic Irish guys, traveling headlong to the French Alps. Ethan (Jared Fortune) , because he believes that he sees himself as the fiancée of Niamh and he finds it hard to bear that she's looking for another man. And then there's Logan (Paul McGuinness). He's just in it because he has probably nothing else to do. They arrive at the French village like two genuine Irish hooligans. Ethan confronts Niamh with the fact that she first had to consult with him. A bit later he clears off like a beaten dog after she made it perfectly clear to him what their relationship is about. The resulting response is so excessive that the credibility of the whole film is brought down. If these two skirts hunters have experienced many rejections in their homeland, I fear the female part of the population was decimated in number. I've always said that foam-free, warm beer is fatal for human brain cells.

So despite the beautiful renditions of Henry Douthwaite and Yvonne O'Grady, "Off Piste" reasonably far-fetched. I understand that without the intervention of Etahn and Logan the complete movie would be kind of banal with just scenes of two traumatized souls. But as I said before, the motivation for their intervention is totally whacked. Even the ultimate action from Stanley is in terms of coincidence grossly exaggerated. Regrettable. Because eventually I found the underlying issue extremely interesting.

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An army operation to take down an IRA cell goes badly wrong, resulting in the death of a young boy. Twelve years later, and his vengeful sister "Niamh" (Lara Lemon) is old enough to set off in pursuit of the soldier who, accidentally, shot him. That takes us to the remote French Alps where he now lives in recluse, with his blind violin-playing mother, trying even now to come to terms with what he has done. She finds him with remarkable ease, but her plan does not quite pan out - especially as her would-be boyfriend from Ireland "Ethan" (Jared Fortune) and his dangerous mate "Logan" (Paul McGuinness) also manage to find them both and it all turns particularly nasty. To call this an implausible story would be an understatement, the whole thing is borderline preposterous. The snowscape scenery is beautiful to look at, but the rest of this offers little by way of a credible thriller with Nathan Bevan-Stewart doing his best as the guilt-ridden soldier "Michael" but an ensemble of easy enough to look at, but hardly more than competent other on-screen talent lurching from unlikely scenario to unlikely scenario - only with guns and a rottenly contrived script. To be fair, it moves along quickly and once it gets going there is some action for us - but I'm afraid you have to leave you sensible head at the door....