Winterschläfer (1997)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writers:

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

Release Date:

30 October 1997 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Ein Liebesthriller.

Plot:

Young blonde translator Rebecca lives with her boyfriend ski instructor Marco in a mountain villa owned by her friend...

Plot Keywords:

Ski Instructor | Short Term Memory Loss | New Year's Eve | Hit And Run | Amnesia

Awards:

8 wins & 10 nominations

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

Also Known As:

Winter Sleepers (USA)
Wintersleepers (Europe: English title)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Spain:13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

X-Filme Creative Pool

Goofs:

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

Movie Connections:

References A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Soundtrack:

Tourtour

Tykwer's best and most expressive movie

I agree with my dear friend worldwideweird, with whom I watched "Winterschläfer" and Tykwer's other movies many, many times.

"Winterschläfer" is one of the best German-movies, if not the best one, and after you've watched it you'll see the world and all the people around you in a different light. There are three reasons for the immense effect of "Winterschläfer":

1) the movie picks out as central themes questions that nearly everybody has asked himself: what is my fate? And how is this fate connected with the life of other people? Is there somebody or something watching every step of mine? Where can I find the one that'll change my life? What if this person is sitting in the train just passing by, thinking about the meaning of life and hoping to find someone too?

2)These questions are mixed in an extremely thrilling and complex story, set in a small village near Berchtesgaden in the wintry German Alps, a location which is otherwise in film history known only for bad 70s-"Lederhosen"-soft-sex-movies an so called "Heimatfilme" (can be seen nearly every day in German TV, not all are so bad).

3)The characters are complex and credible, and they all have their little faults (my favorite is Marco, the guy who's always jealous and seems to be a little bit dim, played by the unique Heino Ferch). If you watch it, pay attention to the color-dramaturgy (is this the right word???): every main character has its own colour as a symbol for his specific character traits.

After all, everything in this movie is outstanding: music, sound, camera actions...; this is a real perfect movie, and the only thing I can not understand is that it had become so little attention in Germany. There is even no DVD out here, the Americans got one, really funny!