L'hiver dernier

I pretty much knew after 20 minutes that this film was going nowhere, yet I toughed it out until the final credits. Very thin story with unremarkable characters, told at a painfully slow pace.

One of the reasons I chose this film was in thinking that the cinematography might be able to carry the day. Unfortunately, that too was underwhelming. There was simply nothing to keep me involved and I was close to dozing off a handful of times.

Can't fathom this film getting any kind of North American distribution deal. It just wouldn't have any broad appeal in these parts with its understated presentation and would be a tough sell even to the art house crowd.

Screened at the 2012 SF International Film Festival

"Always this land has carried me," says Johann. Snow falls in the mountains of central France and a fire blazes in his eyes as Johann surveys the ranch he inherited. The land lifts him in more ways than one, spiritually as well as financially, but it also isolates him from family and the woman he loves. He is at a breaking point; bills piling up, power cut, insurance that does not pay, and cows still needing to be fed. Johann tells his sister that the land is all he has left. Maybe he just wants this to be true. Sister, girlfriend, bills, cows, the land, dreams, desire for independence, and more tug at his heart and somehow, Johann must find his way through.

Sparse dialogue, ambient sound, beautiful and up-close cinematography that gives one the sense of being a part of the scenery, and a realistic story, allow Last Winter to stand out from the typical Hollywood film fare. Even though I do not have cows, Johann's character resonated with me because the landscape and the natural world make me feel alive like nothing else. I am simultaneously connected to others who are as touched as I am by nature, and isolated from them because the land takes up so much of my thoughts and heart-space that they are neglected, or feel as if they are - I am not sure which - and Last Winter helps me come to an understanding. North American premiere seen with director John Shank at the Toronto international film festival.

Although this movie has a timeless feeling to it, I can't help and feel it is dealing with very contemporary issues. A man fighting for what he believes in, surrounded by a harsh world where the rules of the game are slowly changing and money becomes more important than passion, even when your job is to bond with the land and the animals that live off it.

The visual aspect of this movie is also very important. The photography is stunning, and the landscape is mesmerizing. It is a beautiful, poetic and subtle movie. I can only strongly recommend it, as it fits in the dire times we are all going through and we can all identify with it at some level. A beautiful lesson of cinema. I will be expecting John Shank's next movie with impatience. That man has what it takes.