It was the first hot swelting day of summer when I went to see WINTER SLEEPERS. I can't think of a better way to cool off. The breathtaking cinematography made me feel like I was surrounded by snow and felt like my body temperature had actually lowered a few degrees.

When I was young, going to the movies was a way to cool off on a hot summer day. It might be cartoons, or a science fiction story. It hardly mattered. The movie theatre was the cool place to be.

But Winter Sleepers gave me a chance to cool off and watch thrilling cinematography and enjoy the delightful background music. The plot had an almost unbelievable number of coincidences, but it did hold my attention all the way through

In a small skiing village in the mountains of Germany, winter has descended on its inhabitants. A tragic road accident in this picturesque mountain village brings together handsome ski instructor, MARCO (Heino Ferch) who is involved with REBECCA (Floraine Daniel) a translator. Her roommate LAURA (Marie-Lou Sellem) is a nurse and aspiring actress.

On the perimeter is RENE, (Ulrich Matthes) a projectionist at the local movie theatre, who deals with his lack of short term memory by constantly photographing the world about him.

Not far away, lives local farmer THEO (Josef Biuerbichler) a man struggling to keep his family happy and fed, One day he heads out with a horse in a trailer, not knowing his young daughter has stowed away without permission. On a slippery road, things are about to change. A chain reaction has begun, a door has opened, and the hand of fate has entered the game as an invisible player.

Sometimes you wonder if the town is really small enough for all these coincidences to happen A death, a birth and a whole life cycle happen quickly but the acting is good enough so you feel you know these characters and you want to follow their lives

Another fascinating character who you won't see in the film, but whose skills as writer/director bring it all together is Tom Wykwer. Born in Wuppertal in 1965, Tykwer directed his first super-8 film at the age of 11. A self-taught filmmaker, Tykwer took over management of the "Moviemento" cinema in Berlin in 1988. He has worked as a script supervisor and provided several film portraits for television of his favorite directors, including Lares Von Trier, Wim Wenders and Peter Greenaway. In 1998 Tykwer's Run Lola Run opened to international acclaim and box office success.

WINDSTAR CINEMA

A film by TOM TYKWER

German with English subtitles

RUNNING TIME 124 minutes

About the author, Madelyn Miller: Madelyn Miller is a member of the Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Association. She adores art house and foreign films and seems drawn to anything with a travel theme. She never met a film festival she did not like. Although she travels as executive editor of www.travellady.com about half the time, when home in Dallas you will often find her in movie theatres. Her film video collection is gradually replacing her cookbook library. Her favorite popcorn is heavily buttered; straight from a popcorn machine in a movie theatre. Chocolate inspires her to write better reviews. Website: http://www.travellady.com

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