Winter Sleepers (1997)
"Winterschläfer" (original title)

Young blonde translator Rebecca lives with her boyfriend ski instructor Marco in a mountain villa owned by her friend, nurse Laura. Rene, local cinema projectionist, steals Marco's car and ... See full summary »

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writers:

Anne-Françoise Pyszora (novel), Anne-Françoise Pyszora (screenplay),

Stars:

Ulrich Matthes, Heino Ferch, Floriane Daniel

8 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ulrich Matthes	...	Rene
Heino Ferch	...	Marco
Floriane Daniel	...	Rebecca
Marie-Lou Sellem	...	Laura
Josef Bierbichler	...	Theo
Agathe Taffertshofer	...	Theos Frau Edith
Sophia Dirscherl	...	Theos Tochter Marita (as Sofia Dirscherl)
Laura Tonke	...	Nina
Sebastian Schipper	...	Otto
Werner Schnitzer	...	Chefarzt
Saskia Vester	...	Schwester Anna
Robert Meyer	...	Keibl

Storyline

Young blonde translator Rebecca lives with her boyfriend ski instructor Marco in a mountain villa owned by her friend, nurse Laura. Rene, local cinema projectionist, steals Marco's car and gets into a car crash with local Theo, whose daughter, after being in coma for a time, dies. Rene suffers from partial short term memory loss and starts a relationship with Laura. Meanwhile Marco is looking for the man who stole his car and Theo - for the man who killed his daughter...

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Plot Keywords:

mountain | coma | nurse | friend | short term memory loss | 

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Taglines:

Ein Liebesthriller.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

30 October 1997 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Winter Sleepers

Filming Locations:

Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,818 (USA) (17 March 2000)

Gross:

$316,431 (USA) (25 August 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

X-Filme Creative Pool, Palladio Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Marco is falling, the parachute on his back is clearly visible.

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Connections

References A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

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Soundtracks

"Babyloon"
Written by Jovanka von Willsdorf, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek

User Reviews

I have seen only a few German films and I have liked every single one

Naturally, everybody saw "Run Lola Run" and liked it, just as I did.

And movieplexes, eager to cash in, probably scrambled for other T.Tykwer films, which is how and way the Century Landmark Theatre in Chicago was quick to put on "Winter Sleepers"

And it only lasted 2 weeks.

Which makes me very lucky to have seen it! It was a momentous surprise- just as much "Run Lola..." was dynamic and restless, this was dreamy and magical...

Scene after scene of quiet country life- often of desperation and lost chances and graet sorrow- and often wildly sexy. I usually take love scenes in movies as a simple plot device and hardly they are more than transparent tricks to keep one's attention on ( besides wall to wall soundtrack and car chases). Having said that, I have to admit that I hardly get so wound up after a movie love scene, as I did in this one, but here they were so intense and unforgettable ..

I also loved the fact that the film did not have a major plot line, following the standard Aristotellian curve- it just was and it ended without major fireworks, because this is how life is- it happens, it flows, it is felt, it is sometimes understood, it runs forward or slowly passes by, but it is almost never simplified to a beginning and a middle and an end. Very few films ever grasp this concept or very few filmmakers can relate it, but that is why film is such an elusive art.