Winter Sleepers (4 Stars)

Never underestimate a farmer.

After watching "Cloud Atlas" I thought I would go back to Tom Tykwer's early films, when he was developing his style. Even though there's a certain amount of action in this film the lack of plot and the lack of a final resolution reminds me of Eric Rohmer's films. The film revolves around four people who are painted vividly.

Marco is a skiing instructor.
Rebecca translates English romance novels into German.
Rene is a cinema projectionist.
Laura is a nurse.

Rebecca and Laura live together in Laura's house in Berchtesgarden, a winter ski resort in Bavaria. Marco and Rebecca are lovers, but Marco is unfaithful to Rebecca. He is also fiercely jealous, suspecting her of infidelity for no logical reason. Rene and Laura are lovers. Rene suffers from an accident in the army. A grenade exploded behind him, and as a result of the injuries his short term memory is faulty. He takes photographs of everything he sees to remind himself of what has happened, but sometimes he sees photos that mean nothing to him.

Shortly after Christmas Rene borrows Marco's new car. He has an accident with a farmer that results in the death of the farmer's daughter, but he forgets about the accident and is puzzled by photos he finds of an unknown car. From this point on the story rambles on in random directions. While that may sound negative, the film doesn't need a plot. It's a fascinating view of individuals who live in a winter landscape. This isn't Tykwer's best film, but it's nevertheless enjoyable.