Winter Sleepers - Inverno Quente

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)

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.

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!

I have to disagree with the other rather lengthy comment made by a viewer in Germany. This film is hypnotic, powerful and satisfying. One has to be in the right mood for this film. It takes it's time. It is surrounded by snow and muted colors (except one character, Rebecca, is always in red - even her car is red). In a dreamlike state, this film will take you into four different people's lives and see how they intersect through the tragedy of a car accident. I think Twyker is extremely gifted with how he tells a story visually and I was a big fan of his Run Lola Run. He obviously has an attraction to stories about destiny and fate and how life is full of little decisions and moments that mold us or damage us in a blink of the eye. Very well acted film also.

This movie pictures the life of five characters connect by a car accident in a snowing road, provoked by the projectionist Rene (Ulrich Matthes) and the broken farmer Theo (Josef Bierbichler). Rene is a kind of melancholic intellectual, who has amnesia problem and takes picture of the most important events of his life to recall them. One night he drinks too much and steals the car of the ski trainer Marco (Heino Ferch) just for fun. Due to a lack of attention of Theo on the road, there is a dreadful accident, when his young daughter is seriously hurt in the head. She is sent to a hospital without the necessary resources for such a case, but she is unable to be transferred to another suitable place due to the bad weather and her conditions. The nurse in charge of the young girl is Laura (Marie-Lou Sellen), an anorexic woman full of problems and inferiority complex due to her body, who lives in a house inherited from her grandmother with her friend Rebecca (the delicious and sexy Floriane Daniel). Rebecca works in translation, usually wears red colored clothes and has a kind of engagement (indeed their relationship is limited to sex) with Marco. He is a typical unfaithful male man, sexually chasing the women trained by him and being an empty person. The story is a kind of metaphor with the cycle of life, through the lives of five persons with different attitudes and behavior, who are linked by an incident, having death and birth but with life going on. The direction and the performance of the cast are excellent and the photography is wonderful. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Winter Sleepers – Inverno Quente' (`Winter Sleepers – Hot Winter')