The Winter Guest

First of all, the exquisite beauty of this film is mute evidence of the artistic background of the director, Alan Rickman, who was a graphics designer before he became an actor. The iciness and vastness of the frozen Scottish sea coast made me shiver in summer when I first saw it. The kids' conversation about genitalia was funny, and having had 5 children, I never knew they dropped.

Emma Thompson and her mother had a great interaction.which is so appropriate, as it shows both the love and the friction that goes on between mother and daughter who are so much alike. This is the major story line, with the subtexts occurring between the boys and between the old ladies intent on attending funerals, as they approach their own 'going away party'.

It is an unusually visually attractive film and certainly not a formulaic dialogue. I recommend it to anyone with a brain and an eye for beauty. Alice Copeland Brown

Four interconnecting stories: The main one being a woman argues with her elderly, busybody mum about a possible move to Australia for her and her son after the untimely death of her hubby. Meanwhile, said teen has his first sexual experience with a girl who's been stalking him for months. Also on the agenda are two boys adventures while playing truant from school, and a couple of old friends taking a coach ride to attend a funeral. All this is set in the template of a very wintry Scotland, where even the sea has frozen over.

A slow burning meditation on life among different generations, it manages to be quietly moving without having to resort to overdramatising. All of these people FEEL real, and their segments are each satisfying in their own way, even interlinking at certain points. As a demonstration in acting its a masterclass, with special honours reserved for Phyllida Law as the overbearing, interfering mother from Hell. Probably not a classic, but gratifying enough. And the beautiful white landscape is a star all by itself.. 6/10

A beautiful ordinary story. A film made of long silences and unheard incessant talk. Of painful memories and hopeful looks. Of attending funerals as social occasions. Of unexpressible love. Of a beautifully photographed gray Scottish landscape.

Emma Thomson and Phyllida Law deliver powerful performances, although the incredibly poetic early teen Sam and Tom almost steal the movie.

When you are tired of idiotic movies that look all the same, go see or rent this one. Highly recommended.

Alan Rickman has made a breathtakingly beautiful, haunting movie that sucks you in and won't let you go until long after the credits have finished rolling. The story centers on four couples: a mother and her grieving adult daughter, her son and the girl who takes a fancy to him, two young teenage boys going through all the troubles of puberty, and two old ladies with nothing left to do but attend funerals. Their stories are intervowen, against the backdrop of a gorgeous Scottish winter landscape, which is threatening to take over and swallow them whole. They all have to find their paths in life, realize what's important and what's worth living for.

The pace of this movie is very slow, so granted, it's not for everyone. But if you like your movies bittersweet, with reality seeping out of every pore, then this is a film for you.

There are other overall comments; I thought I would comment on it from a 'quiet psychological drama' POV. As the different pairs of people (mother/bereaved daughter, son/girlfriend, boys, old women) developed their stories, and sometimes criss-crossed, I saw a growing pattern in how they all dealt with their existential lone-ness and lack of drive. The fun but seemingly insignificant (at first) retired ladies hold the key the others seem to echo each in their own way: that if you have a friend, a journey of discovery, and something (or someone) to care for, you can grow in hard conditions, and move on. There are even almost mythical scenes of epiphany about this theme, but I don't know whether Rickmann or MacDonald intended this beautiful mythological pattern to answer the existential crises we face in modern times, but the richness and depth the characters grow into by the end of the film is something that really hit me. A fascinating study that follows the characters so carefully as to teach you things about yourself. Put this in your medicine cabinet for prompt temporary relief of existential despair. If they can find warmth in that bitter chill, there's hope for us too. Not for you if action movies are your thing, of course!

Meets my standard for 'movies that improved my life'.