Winter Solstice

I went to see Winter Solstice in the Vancouver Film Festival this evening and was very surprised at the subtlety and restraint used by the director to ensure the film was emotional with over acting. It is a very peaceful film that explores the parents view of children leaving home as opposed to the child's view. A tremendous cast and great performances from Anthony LaPaglia and Mark Webber. Also a brief appearance from Ron Livingston in which he always has a way stealing scenes as the most likable guy in a room.

Very impressive little film with beautiful scenery of New Jersey, tremendous cast and an appealing change to cinema that is more than overwhelmed with actors who love to hear themselves speak.

Quick physics analogy here. (although I hate the discipline!) Imagine a family consisting of three forces pulling in opposite directions. What's gonna happen? Whatever exists between them is gonna start to show cracks, right? Well, even if this little scientific postulation of mine turns out to be incorrect, it still handily applies to the meditation on grief that "Winter Solstice" offers. If they were united as a group, they would be much stronger, but with the huge space vacated by a missing figure, they become a ship without a rudder.

Fans, like me, of Lapaglia, Stanford or David Gordon Green's "All the Real Girls" should definitely come away from this with some food for thought. There are echoes of "In the Bedroom", too. Admirers of any mentioned will be pleasantly acquainted with the pace this film moves at as this is not a work for those who like their cinema to run loud, obvious and at a mile a minute. If low-key indie musing is your thing though, then I would suggest you check it out. It's content not to milk its material for moments of angst, so there are few showy moments for the actors. Suppressed anger is the main vent for hidden depths, so it could have been more 'raw', but taken together it nevertheless builds to something that is genuinely affecting.

i viewed this film at the premiere on the Paramount lot. My thoughts ... placid on the surface but it had this continual bubbling beneath that serves to create this underlying tension and anxiousness which make you wonder ... where is this story going? thin on plot, yet masterly made .. the director was able to extract superlative performances from EVERY cast member which made this film work. This film is subtle and many aspects will be lost on most. This won't be a box office success but will pay for itself ($1m budget), it is a fantastically crafted piece and is in essence, a beautiful film. well done anthony la paglia for doing this low budget film and for giving such a fantastic emotional and well balanced performance that rubbed off onto all.

This is a very low-key film in which the action is inaction. LaPaglia's character, Jim Winters, in particular lives in the silences between the sounds. The film is redolent with the ghosts of unsaid words therefore as the viewer one must approach this film with the knowledge and appreciation that this is intended as a thought-provoking piece of cinema and so has no really big bursts of emotion. All the cast act beautifully, but as one has come to expect of Anthony LaPaglia he is outstanding. He plays a widower who after five years has still not come to terms with his bereavement, and as a result, though seemingly living an ordered day to day existence, in reality he finds it increasingly difficult relating to life in general and specifically to his two teenage sons. LaPaglia's portrayal is subdued and masterful; I don't think I know of any other actor who can so eloquently inhabit a role by apparently doing so little - definitely this is a case of art concealing art. This is a sensitive and rewarding film. And for all those guys out there who want this film to have some male endorsement, my husband liked the film very much when I asked him to watch it over Christmas, so it must be good.

What happens when a spouse dies? There are no tender flashbacks in this film showing the husband and wife in their marital bliss before the wife dies. This film is about what happens afterward. Even five years later, the reverberations are being felt by the husband and his two young adult sons.

Keep your expectations realistic, and this film delivers. In a key scene, a high school history teacher asks the class, "Why did the Mongols turn back when they were poised to roll up Europe like a carpet?" Pete, the younger son, seems to know, but doesn't care to answer. The teacher offers to let him out of class (a makeup summer class) if he can answer.

Pete finally takes the bait: "Their leader died and they didn't know what to do." There you have it. Does the filmmaker do any more to explain what troubles this family? Yes, but you have to put the pieces together yourself. He doesn't make it hard; he just doesn't grind it up and put it in a baby food jar.

The film builds to some very touching scenes that explore the impact of loss on the three remaining family members. If you're interested in exploring how real people deal with the real issue of loss, you'll find something here.

The ending comes before you want it to, sure. There are no easy answers offered by the conclusion, but that's the way life is.