WINTER SLEEPERS A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Look out Academy! If writer/director Tom Tykwer ever comes out with a film entitled THE GREATEST, it's a shoo-in to win the Oscar.
Last year, Tykwer burst onto the American scene to much acclaim with his perfectly named RUN LOLA RUN, a movie which almost made my number one choice for best movie of the year. Exhilarating and exhausting, watching it is like running a marathon and winning. Three marathons to be precise.
WINTER SLEEPERS, I am extremely sorry to report, is aptly named. Viewing it is a perfect remedy for insomnia in winter or any other season. In RUN LOLA RUN, the dialog was fine but not particularly important since it was the intensity of the action that carried the movie. WINTER SLEEPERS, on the other hand, has the actors babbling so much drivel that it sometimes reminded me of the episodes of RBTV (Really Bad TV) in the new picture, THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE.
The story is set in a snowy Bavarian landscape that is made palpably cold and stunningly beautiful by Frank Griebe's cinematography. The interior sequences, however, are as dull and uninteresting as the exterior ones are magnificent.
One day, a ski instructor, Marco (Heino Ferch), comes racing up in his new car to see his girlfriend, Rebecca (Floriane Daniel). He's so in the grips of love that he leaves the keys in his car and the door wide open. After having sex, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he finds that his car has been stolen. This sets off a small chain of events that establishes the miniscule structure of the story.
Staying awake is hard during WINTER SLEEPERS and, in retrospect, not especially necessary. It is now clear why this earlier work of Tykwer's did not find a United States distributor when it was initially released. If the movie has an audience it is probably among film students looking to see how successful directors develop their craft. Certainly there are a few undeniably effective touches in WINTER SLEEPERS that later show up spectacularly in RUN LOLA RUN. But, if you're not a film student, there are many better movies more worth your time.
WINTER SLEEPERS runs a long 2:02. The film is in German with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be R for sex, accident violence and language and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
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