User reviews

Lizzie Brochere was just about perfect. With her excellent command of the English language that sometimes needed subtle correction, to her vulnerability and an inner sadness that made you want to hold and protect her, she was great. I would see anything she was in. Her counterpart, writer/director Schaeffer, was annoying. As a struggling, depressed, overly self-absorbed writer, he apparently had one extremely successful novel and could never achieve the same level of success again. Lizzie relates that she did read his novel and found it wonderful, revealing an intimate, sensitive, honest portrait of the writer. Somehow, the qualities that he exhibited back then were long gone. He was anything but lovable, happy, confident or worthy of this much younger woman's love and admiration. Also, he was broke and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars and still had the use of a dozen credit cards. The teenage girl that Lizzie was caring for was also excellent. As for the gypsy woman and her young son, they were very believable to me. If you are depressed or impatient, do not watch this movie, unless you cheer up when you see that other people can be a lot more screwed up than you are.

This is a love story about two broken people (Michael stated that all people are broken)trying to find repair (salvation, redemption, purpose, etc.) through love. However, the damages that Michael and Sophie bring into the relationship makes it difficult for them to develop a relationship.

Michael is a masochist and Sophie is a dominatrix by profession who caters to masochistic men. You would thus think they were soul mates. However, Sophie only role plays her sadistic posture in her work and is not truly a dominatrix personally. Michael is a failure with many redeeming qualities and his masochism mollifies his failures and subsequent depression. Both enter the relationship hiding something from each other, and this serves as an invisible barrier to their love.

For the first time in her life, Sophie overcomes her anxiety over intimate love and finds herself falling in love, following Michael's lead in his dependent need for her.

However, Michael reveals himself as a pathetic failure who deceived her and she leaves him with disastrous consequences.

The movie's ending is disappointing since the potential for developing a love relationship could have been actualized with time and proper honest communication.

The movie is extremely well done in all aspects except the ending. The ending could have easily been revised in different ways to make a fulfilling story.

Manuel Bonnet as Michael and Lizzie Brocheré as Sophie were both superb. For me, Brocheré's performance ranks with that of Giulietta Massina in "La Strada" as one of the best female performances.

So honestly I thought this movie was refreshing. It is shocking to watch sometimes because of the violent sexual nature, but well worth it. The characters were well acted and believable. The story was well developed. I was never bored or disappointed. As a psychologist, I felt the character's issues were well written and accurately depicted throughout the film. I hate movies that are too "Hollywood" with the same old boring themes. This was a nice change from the typical romantic films. I don't know enough about S&M to judge the validity there, but I felt that this movie was very moving. It dives deep into human vulnerability. If you are looking for something different and interesting then I highly recommend it! It's a movie to watch when you're feeling melancholy.

After Fall, Winter isn't a perfect movie, but the levels it goes to examine relationships at their most delicate hits home with anyone. Schaeffer has an amazing ability to create three dimensional characters who's flaws and problems feel real. To me that is the best of After Fall, Winter - the characters and world created. We don't have heroes with "first world problems," we have people we have seen in our everyday lives, right up there on the screen. The cast did an amazing job at accomplishing this task.

A very impressive character study, I would recommend this film to anyone sick of watching rich people fall in love in NYC and live happily ever after (which I hope is the majority of film lovers).

"After Fall, Winter" asks challenging questions about the connection between our traumatic pasts and present, and the coping mechanisms we invent or latch onto. It is deeply interested in pain, in all aspects, and in particular grief.

Once asked, however, the film has absolutely no interest in exploring any further, much less actually offer any answers. More on that later.

Eric Shaeffer has many talents. As a writer, he writes incredibly naturalistic dialog. As a director, not surprisingly, he wrangles incredibly naturalistic performances from his actors. As an actor, he's completely at ease leading by example - he engages his fellow actors by being naturalistic, and *almost* sells himself as how he probably imagines himself to be.

Trouble is, rather than the whole being greater than, or at the very least adding up to, the sum of its parts, you get the distinct sense that if he could relinquish control over at least ONE of those creative endeavours, he might actually be onto something good.

His poor editor. I'm fairly certain he was just two hands and an editing suite. Rather than being allowed to fashion the film in a way that somehow dug deeper into our human condition, or actually imposing a structure that could've made "After Fall, Winter" a much more disciplined, enlarging work, he had to be basically a technician piecing together a reel of how fascinating, interesting, talented, funny, raw, real, honest Eric Shaeffer is.

This is nothing against Eric Shaeffer, not on a personal level nor on any kind of professional-jealousy level. In fact, he was absolutely right in his speech before the NYC premiere at The Quad - it is incredibly difficult to get an indie film shown in the movie theaters these days, and I applaud him tremendously for ignoring the naysayers and the detractors, of which I'm just one more.

But we all have to eventually put up, or shut up. Mr Shaeffer, if you're reading, like I said above, you're a talented guy. But you have to realise that you're actually dooming yourself by not trusting others and letting their creative energies influence what you could become. Right now, you're just trapped in your vision of yourself, and you can't see that it's dragging you down.

He says he'll make a part of the "seasonal" series once every 15 years. Perhaps "After Winter, Spring", in 2027, will be the one where an older and wiser Mr. Shaeffer realises this, and unleashes the true, talented dramatist within.

If Fall was a romantic exploration of a love was that was not meant to be, this sequel from filmmaker/actor Schaeffer is a deeper and darker trip down the rabbit hole that may leave you thinking, in the words of The Who, "love ain't for keeping". Schaeffer takes his own character forward in time where we see him living in dejected squalor. Hope comes in the form of an invitation from friends to travel to Paris France where he once again finds love with an unlikely mate. From there, Schaeffer finds truth, humor, pain and passion by digging deep into the psychology and sexuality of his characters. It's a stunning, masterful film and one that will be with me and even haunt me for a long time.

If all of the other reviewers on this site watched the same "After Fall, Winter" that I did. All of these stars and all of these gushing reviews feel like deck-stacking on the part of the filmmaker and his friends, and this phenomenon seems to follow Eric Schaeffer wherever he goes. He is like a male Bebe Buell in that regard. This particular group of reviews reeks of this tactic; all of them rave extensively over the movie but reveal no plot points and devote most of their text to praising Mr. Schaeffer.

I rented this movie because I'm a BDSM person, and on that level this picture is profoundly insulting. Without revealing any specific plot points, I will only remark that as a long-term dominatrix, I was deeply offended by the implication that one of my fellow older pros would ever, ever refer a client to a fellow practitioner with whom she felt he would not be safe, no matter how much he begged to be referred to such a person.

Another thing that leads me to suspect that these reviews are ringers is that none of them specifically praise the only person who seemed to be trying to bring this often-implausible script to sincere life - the lead actress, Lizzie Brochere. The only pleasure I was able to derive from this depressing, insulting film occurred when she was on screen. I feel like she really tried to make a decent movie that would be watchable for people other than Eric Schaeffer's friends but was subverted from that end time and time again by Mr. Schaeffer's colossal overestimation of his own ability to arouse sympathy and interest.

This excellent sequel to Eric Schaeffer's late-90s romantic dramedy "Fall" is quite a bit more serious-minded than the earlier film, but has a lot of laughter along with some shattering drama. Schaeffer and his radiant leading lady, the French up-and-comer Lizzie Brochere, have terrific chemistry and the on-location Parisian photography is evocative without falling back on Eiffel-Tower-style clichés. The comic moments are never an intrusion on the drama, nor do the dramatic scenes come out of nowhere. Schaeffer has managed to balance two discrete styles with aplomb. And the BDSM subplot makes the movie unique and memorable.

The film captured my interest one morning before work, as do all films set in Paris. I love film noir which this has some traits of, even though I can't relate to a down and out writer, who likes to be tied up and spanked, but it is counter-culture for sure. The female lead was much better in her portrayal of the dominatrix with a soft spot for a terminally ill child she cared for in a hospice? The plot was all over the place with the introduction of her mother who was mentally ill and beaten by her husband. However, this could have been a good movie if there was some shred of redemption or salvation at it's end. Terrible ending, with no satisfaction for having wasted 90 minutes of my life!

As an avid movie-goer and Eric Schaeffer fan, I knew it would be difficult to go into "After Fall, Winter" without a biased viewpoint. Schaeffer's writing is not only comedic, but still so passionate and provocative at the same time and when I learned he would be reviving the role of Michael Shiver years later, I was really thrilled.

But I went into the premiere with an open mind anyway and was truly blown away by the performances and the storyline. While "Fall" tells the story of the sexy, scandalous, yet forbidden romance between Michael and Sarah, "After Fall, Winter" goes down a much darker road, exposing Michael at his most vulnerable stage in life and his journey in the pursuit of love, success, and happiness.

Schaeffer and his French leading lady, Lizzie Brochere, were masterful on the screen together. Their interaction was so honest and direct and their dialog wasn't in any way sugarcoated. Schaeffer always has a way of remaining truthful to his audience, revealing that life can be wrapped up in secrets, love, humor, pain, death - a quality of writing that I really appreciate.

Overall, an authentic, moving film that will stay with me long after.

They say art is meant to make you feel (and think). If you are going to watch this movie, you will feel.. something. So, there is an art in this movie. But on the other hand, you can take a hammer and hit you fingers with it and you will definitely feel something to. Is this art? Hurting your self with an object? According to some… it is. Just take a look at so called "performances".

This movie is just like that. Artsy, self indulged performance. What is wrong with it? Let me quote Robin Skynner & John Cleese (yes, that guy from: Monty Python, Fawlty Tower, A Fished Called Wanda etc.) 2nd book – FAMILIES and how to survive them:

John – Interesting. Well I'm not going to try to argue the merits of emotional dependence, because I've been so completely converted to your point of view, that all I seem to observe now is how much unhappiness the idealisation of dependence brings. Just take the Great Love Stories – Romeo and Juliet, La Traviata, Anna Karenina, Carmen, Antony and Cleopatra, Aida, Doctor Zhivago, Tristan and Isolde, Brief Encounter. Mention them to people and a dreamy radiance passes across their face and they say: "Oh, they're wonderful aren't they, so romantic." Well, they are not wonderful. They are tales of almost unmitigated misery. There's not ten minutes of good, everyday happiness and fun in any of them. The lovers usually get one dollop of over-the-top ecstasy and apart from that it's wall-to-wall suffering. They get stabbed, walled up in tombs, they throw themselves and die of consumption or renounce each other in agony. They're convinced they can only find happiness choose on grounds of unavailability. So, Doctor, why do you think all this dependence and its consequent suffering is equated with true love?

Robin – Well, after all, the first love we experience, for our mothers, is like that. At the beginning of our lives we are completely dependent, so we do suffer badly if mother isn't there when we need her. And though we'll naturally always need love and support, if we don't grow out of this kind of childish demand we'll go on treating our lovers in the same way, trying to make them care for us like parents and feeling threatened when they don't.

John – And this kind of love makes us feel 'special', doesn't it? As babies do, with all that exclusive attention. But really healthy families obviously don't believe that suffering adds significance to their lives.

Robin – No. As they're not so needy, they won't need to justify childish demands by suffering terribly when they aren't met. (Page 13-14)

Now add to this psychological profile "50 shades of Grey" type of complete misunderstanding what is BDSM all about… you get: After Fall Winter.

My proposal: Please, use hammer instead. It's much quicker, it will save you time for the same effect – pain with no meaning (other than faulty misuse of handy tool). And as a matter of fact, there is no blame in it. Even the greatest minds of this planet hit themselves with a hammer, from time to time. You might even get a Newtonian "Eureka!" moment while suffering :)

Loved it. I'm not in the industry so my review is coming from an indie film lover.

Although I agree the male character was annoying at times, I found it to fit with the storyline. He was playing a struggling writer from America after all and who says it means he has to appear Harvard educated in leather loafers?

I found the gypsy lady's character off -- not sure what it was, just off somehow. Otherwise, I felt everyone fit in perfectly.

I adored the leading lady and have now become a fan. I will look for other films she is in.

The ending made me sad, but I liked that. It would have come off too Hollywood (and would have been too easy in my opinion) to give it a happy ending. Frankly, I didn't expect for it to end the way it did so as sad as I was, it shocked me and left me thinking.

What a beautiful story, well-directed and perfectly acted. Well done! I'll be watching for all your work now.

i like Eric,hes really funny...but if i had to choose,Fall would b my choice of the two. i love his Showtime series and hope its back this year.this movie would have been better w/out so much sex stuff,but that seems to b his thing....i think he can act,he just needs different story lines.overall,i liked it OK,but think he can do a lot better!id like to see him in a romantic comedy.Eric is obviously very smart.If he is writing these,i wish he would try what i mentioned.hopefully he will come back with a movie that will shock us with quality.but his Showtime show i wouldn't miss.all in all ,i will still watch whatever hes in.i get a kick out of him.and i like his bf too.another smart guy.

I didn't know what to expect when I saw this movie, since I'd never seen the original film "Fall," but seeing the new movie made me want to rent the old one. Interestingly, the only thing the two movies really have in common is the leading male character, so you can see them both independently of the other and enjoy each one. The new movie is more ambitious than the first one and--in my opinion--better. It stirred my soul and, while disturbing, is still inspiring. I loved the Paris setting and all the music. It's also beautifully edited; all in all, a highly polished production on what was presumably a limited budget, which makes it impressive on yet another level. As for the acting, Schaeffer and Brochere are wonderful, and the supporting cast follows suit. Although the overall vibe is highly dramatic, there is delicious humor along the way. See this movie!

This is another take on "Romeo and Juliet". Prokofiev did it as ballet. Bernstein did it as musical. Zeffirelli and Luhrmann did it as movies. Tim van Dammen has filmed it as New Zealand rock opera.

Gypsy curse, very Shakespeare. Sharp combinations of alternating poignant tenderness and cynical exploitation, very Globe Theatre. Pixie-faced Lizzie Brochere with the huge eyes, very Juliet. So where are the warring families, the Montagues and Capulets? They are America and France, different ways of seeing life. They are the English language and the French language, different ways of expressing life. And they don't need to be anywhere out there, because they are inside us. From the moment of our conception, from the moment of our birth, we start accumulating individuality and baggage, individuality and baggage that are going to make love impossible - or at the very least, difficult. We are all star-cross'd lovers.

The problem with living more than four hundred years after Romeo first delivered the line: "If I profane with my unworthiest hand..." is how to make a doomed love credible, how to make us the audience care about the lovers and what they feel and what happens to them, and how to make it all look original, how to make it look archetypal but at the same time new. This film succeeds.

After Fall, Winter is a beautifully written film. It was gorgeously shot by director, actor, writer Eric Schaeffer in one of the most romantic cities in the world, Paris. I thought the acting was fantastic. Eric Schaeffer and Lizzie Brochere had undeniable chemistry. I found myself rooting for them from the moment they met. And the supporting cast was just as strong. Judging from his past films/television shows, i think that Schaeffer and his casting directors have a great eye for talent. The film took me through a gamut of emotions, which i always appreciate. Some of the scenes are dark and disturbing, and not for the easily offended. But overall After Fall, Winter is a sweet and sexy love story that will stay with you long after its over.

There are few films that portray adult relationships in a realistic light, fraught with the complex shades that we who are adults know exist.

Not just the black and white.

This is one of those films.

I loved that this film shows the struggles that exist in all romantic relationships along with the soft and loving parts. The script is deftly written, with extremely natural dialog, both funny and poignant at every turn and those turns happen sometimes on the heels of each other, much like life.

We are live in the gray know that life has many shades as do our sexualities, moods, psyches, and I revel in films that have the maturity to discuss that fact.

Visually titillating and emotionally captivating –a story that grabs hold of you and refuses to let go, and still you fall in heartbreak. I didn't just watch this film –I was moved by this film, and Mr. Schaeffer's ability to craft and articulate such unfettered emotion with boldness and honesty. And like silent movies and silent moments speak a truth, it touches every emotion –then lets you "Fall" all over again.

A must see film. I strongly recommend to all as it will make you smile, laugh and cry, and at times tickle you silly. It will make you uncomfortable as you take comfort in its honesty. And you will at times feel your heartbeat as the film connects with the core of everyone's desire to be loved, and what you would do for that love. You will watch. You will feel. You will be moved still.

Mix the raw emotion and psychological disturbance of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club with a story of romance and love and this is what you get. A Romeo and Juliet for the minds who grew up reading A Clockwork Orange and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while going through their educational careers being numbed by the despair of the writing and music of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, or Stabbing Westward, to I'm a Barbie Girl and Marilyn Manson. With unemployment and fiscal trouble running rampant and mass shootings on the television daily, this is a story of love that can speak to a generation who may never have known what the words "I love you" meant. This was truly an original film and I will be looking out for this writer in the future.