Berlin Film Festival Reviews

Posted: Tue., Feb. 17, 2009, 5:41pm PT

Berlin

Winter Silence

Winterstilte (Netherlands)

By JAY WEISSBERG

'Winter Silence'

An SNG Film production. Produced by Digna Sinke. Directed, written by Sonja Wyss.

With: Gerda Zangger, Sandra Utzinger, Brigitta Weber, Katalin Liptak, Sarah Buehlmann, Eleonore Jensch, Werner Imhoff, Tobias Perren, Claude Imahorn, Alwin Sarbach, Aurelia Truffer.

Striking images of a hard-edged brilliance are the reason to see "Winter Silence," video artist Sonja Wyss' feature debut, composed of often-dazzling tableaux in an isolated Swiss village suspended in time. Through largely wordless setpieces, Wyss tells the story of a widow and her four daughters locked in a hermetic web of intense Catholic faith and local superstition, all tied to the snow-bound landscape. While the photography is arresting, the airless quality mitigates against any real commercial prospects, leaving fest auds to appreciate the silence.

Tragedy strikes when a father (Werner Imhoff) falls into a ravine. His widow (Gerda Zangger) and their four daughters (Sandra Utzinger, Brigitta Weber, Katalin Liptak, Sarah Buehlmann) begin a period of mourning enforced by mysterious deer men who prolong the bereavement vigil. Wyss utilizes regional mythologies similar to those in Luis Trenker's "The Prodigal Son," fascinated by how they control lives. Visuals burn into the memory, from an extraordinary, geometrically composed yarn-rolling scene to a mystical snowy owl, but the whole feels more like an experiment in composition than a narrative. Superb use of sound won an award at the Netherlands Film Festival.

Camera (color, HD), Peter Brugman; editor, Katarina Tuerler; music, Wise Man's Child; production designer, Dominique Steiner; costume designer, Catherine Schneider; sound, Gijs Stolmann, Alex Booy, Robil Rahantoeknam. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Forum), Feb. 10, 2009. (Also in Rotterdam Film Festival -- Dutch Treats; 2008 Netherlands Film Festival.) German dialogue. Running time: 68 MIN.

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