The Winter Guest (1997)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Perfect cast and a good story

Excellent but underrated film

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Don't know about you, but i just loved the movie. It was very interesting to discover Alan Rickman as a Director - and i wasn't disappointed with the result in any way. First, the 'structure' of the movie: tiny episodes from every plot line, their gentle crossing with each other. Then, these plot lines themselves - i found them pictured with more subtlety and tenderness than i had believed possible.What struck me most was the teenage boys' behaviour. Or, to be more precise, the abrupt change in both of them - from cigarettes, swearing, and all this genitals-related speech to the sudden gentle manner when they find and adopt baby kittens. Is it how we grow up? Does it only take a helpless creature, who has nothing and no-one to depend on, to step towards maturity? Frances' (Emma Thompson) drama about her lost husband expresses silent grief, which is more felt than seen from her performance. Her mother Elspeth (Phyllida Law), adds even more emotion to it. While usual movies concentrate on showing the 'action', here the very sight of Elspeth's slow journey towards her daughter's house speaks volumes. What can we learn from her? That old age cannot be fought? Or, that the journey to another soul is long and winding? or both?..The other two plot lines are magnificent as well. I won't delve into every single moment that made me shudder, for everyone finds their own special episodes. What i can say is that the movie didn't leave any dazzling impressions. No vivid flashbacks. Only a feeling of winter silently creeping into our souls and staying there for long. Not the freezing, icy season. But the feeling of a thick blanket of snow. The thrill you get when you hear snow crackling beneath your feet. The strange yet peaceful emotion when witnessing the earth sleep.Who is the winter guest? Alan Rickman has been asked about it in some interview. He said he didn't know it himself. It might be death, however. Who is the winter guest for every one of us? Death, which comes alien and unexpected. Winter, bringing sleep and slumber into our ordinary lives. Grief, which covers our hearts with ice. Life, which stirs beneath the layers of ice and snow. Different for each and every one. The movie is leaving much space to insert your own emotions and feelings. To accept your own, personal winter guest. I have learned to accept mine.

I loved the cinematography in this movie! The story, however, is utterly boring. There's no catalyst, no actual order of events. Emma Thompson is one of the sexiest, most brilliant stars of her time. Her real life mother, Phyllida Law, was also incredible. Overall, however, there was no drive in the film. Will she go to Australia or not? Do we honestly care? No. Even great actors can't save badly written scripts. There wasn't anything really here... Sorry Alan... Sorry Emma... Sorry cast. You're all beautiful and incredible but you need something to do. Life or death. That makes a good movie. And a decent resolution would've been nice.

I will admit that the only reason why I decided to watch this movie was because of Sean Biggerstaff. I was curious about what kind of real talent he had (his part in the Harry Potter movies was way too shallow to let anything show). Well, on that front, I was not disappointed. He, along with the rest of the cast, gave excellent performances. I felt that they were all very natural. And that's great, since the backbone of the film is more or less a series of character sketches. Without good acting, this film would have fallen flat on its face.As far as plot and storyline goes, there really isn't any. But that doesn't bother me- sometimes instead of focusing on a story, I like to focus on moments. The Winter Guest is full of moments; many were melancholy, but there were a few amusing ones too, thanks to Tom and Sam. I came away from this film wanting to see it a second time.

First I wanna mention the music of TWG by Michael Kamen. I was shocked to find that he had passed away in 2003 from the Academy Awards "In Memoriam". He poetically and gracefully used the simple piano music in TWD, which led the audience go into the alienated world with warm spirit.I have to admit that I bought this film because I'm a Rickman fan. I was just curious about his first & only film directing. It's adapted from the play by Sharman Macdonald, who also worked on the film script with Alan. In 1997's Chicago Film Festival,TWD even "beat" talented Ming-liang Tsai's "The River", awarded with the Golden Hugo.In my opinion, there's no such thing as "win " or "lose" in a film festival. But this fact also pushed me to see TWD.I can't say there's nothing awkward in TWD. The way they edited the film, say, is not smooth enough; it just kept on reminding me that it's adapted from a play. But also, the off-screen voice was well-used in a few scenes. For instance, Alex told the girl Nita about the love between his Mom & Dad(after he found the house seemed to be "haunted"), overlapped with her mom Frances'(Emma Thompson) breakdown on the mountain. They also perfecly made the opening scene of Mom & Daughter. Mom is walking and cleaning the house; the Daughter stays in the bathroom to keep herself away from Mom's nagging. They dialogued in this way. We can clearly see how they get along. Not too friendly, but caring for each other. You can find Frances grieve over sth, in her private space. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey("The Hours", "The Wit") was so great that he captured some dignity or beauty of life in his long take. I particularly like the scene when Frances held her mother's hand to climb up the hill. Suddenly her mother revealed some part of her fragility. The wall that she supported with also rubbed her hand, along with her nagging and France's silence, this long-take would be such a memorable moment for this film. The high-angle shot of the bus in the field, what can I say, just tells what I mean of "dignity of life". Two old women took the bus to attend a funeral. You never knew where life is going to take you.It's a story of "4 pairs of people". It's important to emphasize on this form the scriptwriters took. While too many films talked about the loneliness of modern people, TWD walked the other way to present life itself. People in TWD may not really be able to understand each other; at least they have a company to walk on the slippery road.Being as a actor-turned-director(especially a British actor), Rickman gave lots of space for the cast. I hope he can direct more. Some places need to be improved, but still Bravo for Mr. Rickman's heart-warming debut.