Sunday, September 14, 2008

A Year Ago in Winter

I'll be brief as Sarah has already covered this film off admirably.     Couple of additional thoughts I had:

(1) how strange it is that two films I've seen this year have as their central story the forbidden (and unrequited) love between a 19-year old brother and his 21-year old sister (the other being "Dioses").  Even the ages are exactly the same - weird.  The treatments are very different; Winter only suggests it as one possibility (though it is the last and most likely theory) for Alexander's unexplained suicide.   And Dioses is more about serial moping.
(2) This film was filled with many strong performances and rich characters, but had clunky moments / elements that very nearly ruined it (or may have for me, I'm still sitting on the fence...).    Sarah has mentioned the dance scene, another was the portrayal of the artist with whom Lilli falls in love shortly after Alexander's death - a misguided relationship with an egocentric fella, classic artist type.    The actor in this role was awful, completely unconvincing as an artist, he looked and felt more like generic beefcake, and the love she felt for him never made any sense.    This fifteen - twenty minutes of the film played like an episode of Red Shoes Diaries.  

Mild recommendation.

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