Emotional Trains Run Strictly on Time in A Year Ago in Winter

P. Muller 01/08/2010 12:12:00 AM

I sometimes find the use of the word "generic" in a review a probable indicator of a critic's addiction to, and therefore implicit insistence on, more "interesting" fare. Cynicism about Caroline Link's film seems a sure thing in an age where merely adult "human drama" is an endangered species -- that is, among films featuring human subjects that don't involve outright fantasy, special effects, sentimental fluffery, outrageous satire, outsized criminal intentions, or animated figures as human surrogates. Well, regardless of the original story source, Link has made a pretty damn potent film about death, and some of the ways we deal or don't deal with it. Death is isn't anyone's preferred subject matter unless it's couched in a suitable horror-cinema misanthropy or treacly spiritual adages. In keeping the unsentimental intelligence quotient high (and contrary to appearance), the near-end montage of mother and daughter each seeking their own degree of catharsis actually reveals, for all the "noise" level, that neither is very successful. Afterwards, they still have to negotiate their pain without coming to any "feel-good" agreements. This is a mature work and uneasy to watch, but not for the reasons you've cited. And raising the validity of avoidance as a coping mechanism seems to posit a straw dog, as Link shows us that whatever errors human beings make are all valid on the way to "getting it" -- whether they do or not. She also shows subtly that cynicism is the enemy of possibility.