Cheap Winter Sleepers (DVD) (Ulrich Matthes, Marie-Lou Sellem, Floriane Daniel, Heino Ferch, Josef Bierbichler, Laura Tonke) (Tom Tykwer) Price

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Customer Reviews of Winter Sleepers

The film begins with an almost totally silent introduction that sets the tone for the entire movie with its lovely overhead shots of the snow banks and the musical score playing. Each character is unveiled in long panning shots and small captions. The movie's pace moves along rather slowly for about five minutes, and then POW! A car crash that results in the incapacitation of a little girl, and triggers a father's need for revenge. Then Tykwer grabs ahold of the reins and let's her rip. The relationships between the characters in this movie are so carefully constructed and so keenly developed that by the end of this film we realize that if just one of them were to not exist, it would completely alter the outcome of everyone else's lives. Just like Atom Egoyan. Because this is a Tom Tykwer movie, it has a faster pace than a movie Egoyan would've made, but it is because of that that it is not as good as an Atom Egoyan movie. Egoyan loves giving us the time to contemplate while we watch the film. Tykwer gives us that time too, but he also loves distracting us with his camerawork and one too many shots of nudity. Sure, sex is one of the demonstrated evils in this film, and some of the shots do have a point to them, but most do not. Egoyan would've vetoed those shots, I'm pretty sure. But let's pull up the carpet and get down to brass tacks: "Winter Sleepers" is an extremely entertaining, powerfully written, acted, and directed film. It held my attention from its rather slow beginning all the way to its heartstopping end. Tykwer may be meant to make action movies, but "Winter Sleepers" shows us that he can do other stuff, too. Just not as well as Atom Egoyan.

Enigmatic and endearing, too
Many movies, most of them made in the wake of David Lynch's erratic career, are usually tagged as "mysterious" or "enigmatic" (think of some of Atom Egoyan's films). Tykwer's "Winter Sleepers", made just before "Run Lola Run", not only deserves the accolate but ennobles it. Set in the bleak, wintry German Alps, it intertwines several stories -- a failing farmer, a translator of romance novels, an amnesiac photographer -- in a story that shows how their lives intersected one day when a terrible accident befell two of them.

Tykwer takes his audience's intelligence for granted and does not spill all the beans at once. He lets us be participants in the puzzle instead of passive recipients, and the result is a movie that's rich, strange, and endearing all at the same time.

Twists of fate
Before Tom Tykwer created international hit "Run Lola Run" (or "Lola Rennt"), he created the ponderous "Winter Sleepers" (or "Winterschläfer"). Like Tykwer's later films, this one deals with fate, destiny, death, and love. It's an interesting execution, with a flawed climax and the occasional question of "where is this going?"

Laura (Marie-Lou Sellem) arrives at her little country cottage, where her pretty friend Rebecca (Floriane Daniel) lives. Things are complicated after the first evening: while handsome but loutish Marco (Heino Ferch) is in bed with Rebecca, a strange man (Ulrich Matthes) wanders over and takes Marco's car. But when he is driving, he causes an accident that puts a child in a life-threatening coma.

The child's father (Josef Bierbichler), stricken with grief, goes on the hunt for the man who accidently killed his daughter. That man, Rene, is now in love with Laura, but can't remember anything about the accident. Rene is also inadvertantly causing cracks in Laura and Marco's fragile, tempestuous relationship. One person will die -- two will find happiness -- and one will find freedom.

"Winter Sleepers" has a lot of the same themes and feel of Tykwer's later films, but more unpolished and loosely knit together. Though we know the fates of all these people are interconnected, much of the screen time is devoted to Laura and Rene's blossoming romance, or Marco and Rebecca's deteriorating one, and not to the central theme of the movie.

The cinematography is breathtaking, with a lot of Tykwer's signatures like a camera panning in a complete circle around Rene, and a character death never being shown except by a thud and darkness. As he often does, Tykwer filmed many scenes in a portentous manner, as if every tiny event could start off something important. Perhaps the biggest problem is the conclusion. While beautifully filmed, it seems out-of-character and a bit of an easy way out, as if Tykwer wasn't entirely sure how to end the various interconnected storylines.

One thing that Tykwer does well is give humanity in subtle ways to the characters, even the stupid, cheating Marco, who is genuinely miserable and guilt-stricken after his girlfriend falls off a ledge. Matthes is instantly sympathetic as the sensitive, memory-impaired Rene. Daniel and Sellem are quite nice in their roles as, respectively, the sexpot and the quiet wannabe-actress nurse.

"Winter Sleepers" lacks the tightness and focus of Tykwer's later films, though his good directing style is still present. However, those looking for an interesting philosophical drama/romance might want to check it out.