A Year Ago in Winter (2008)

A renowned artist must uncover a young dancer's secrets in order to truly capture her likeness for a commissioned work.

Director:

Caroline Link

Writers:

Caroline Link (screenplay), Scott Campbell (novel)

Stars:

Karoline Herfurth, Josef Bierbichler, Corinna Harfouch

6 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karoline Herfurth	...	Lilli Richter
Josef Bierbichler	...	Max Hollander
Corinna Harfouch	...	Eliane Richter
Hanns Zischler	...	Thomas Richter
Cyril Sjöström	...	Alexander Richter
Misel Maticevic	...	Aldo
Daniel Berini	...	Tom
Franz Dinda	...	Johannes
Jacob Matschenz	...	Tobias Hollander
Inka Friedrich	...	Andrea
Hansa Czypionka	...	Stephan
Filippo Kreindl	...	Paul
Karin Boyd	...	Renee Walters
Proschat Madani	...	Sandra
Rainer Bock	...	Richard 'Ritschy' Peters

Storyline

A renowned artist must uncover a young dancer's secrets in order to truly capture her likeness for a commissioned work.

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Plot Keywords:

gay | grief | death of sibling | musical theater | sex scene | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The paintings in the film were originally made by a painter called Florian Süssmayr from Munich, Germany

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Soundtracks

Signal to Noise
Written by Peter Gabriel
Performed by Peter Gabriel

User Reviews

From the Oscar-Winning Director of "Nowhere In Africa"

The Toronto Film Festival was seen by some as not containing very many home runs, especially after the litany of great movies from last year, from "No Country...", "Juno", "Michael Clayton" to "Into the Wild" and "Atonement". But I submit that this year was top-heavy in foreign Oscar potential, from "Waltz With Bashir" to "Gomorra" to this wonderful drama.

Caroline Link is a first-rate director all the way now with this follow-up to "Nowhere in Africa". You watch this movie and you're sucked in after about 10 minutes and you have the feeling that the director is totally in control and everything is running on all cylinders.

This is a family-drama based off the novel "Aftermath", written by a north-eastern American and set in New England I believe, but taken to Germany where it plays just as well because the themes are universal. Not entirely unlike "Ordinary People", the movie follows an upper-crust family that loses their teenage son in an apparent hunting accident. We spend much of the time with his older sister, a dance/theatre student, and a professional middle-aged painter who lives alone in a studio-flat as he's commissioned by the mother to paint a portrait of the two siblings as a remembrance. Lilli, the daughter, played by Karoline Herfurth (one of the unfortunate victims in "Perfume") thinks the whole idea of this painting is insane. She's wise beyond her years, tough and engaging, precocious, but tests her sexual prowess in ways that cause her more aggravation once she gets the attention which show her physical age.

Her performance and the way she relates to the painter are the key in this movie, and they find they are kindred spirits, both nursing personal wounds. The parents are mostly distant, but every one of their scenes reveal a depth of feelings and signals, especially from the mother, that the younger son was the glue that held the family together.

I loved this movie. I loved every single scene, and there wasn't a wasted moment. It doesn't ever strain for melodrama but sees it's characters from a level gaze, revealing wounds and themes of loneliness and shame that are very maturely handled by director Link. Kudos as well for a very good music score that serves the tone of this movie excellently.

Watch for this movie in the foreign film category come Oscar time.

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

German English

Release Date:

6 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Year in Winter

Filming Locations:

Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,011,990

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Bavaria Filmverleih- und Produktions GmbH, Constantin Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1