The Winter Guest

The Winter Guest (1997)

• Director: Alan Rickman
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson, Sheila Reid, Sandra Voe, Arlene Cockburn, Gary Hollywood, Sean Biggerstaff, Douglas Murphy
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Phyllida Law – Copying Beethoven, Milk, Hamish Macbeth, Before the Rain Falls, Much Ado about Nothing, The Life and Death of King John, Upstairs Downstairs
• Emma Thompson – Alone in Berlin, The Love Punch, Beautiful Creatures, Brave, Harry Potter, The Boat that Rocked, An Education, Last Chance Harvey, Brideshead Revisited, Stranger than Fiction, Nannie McPhee, Angels in America, Love Actually, Wit, Sense and Sensibility, In the Name of the Father, The Remains of the Day, Much Ado about Nothing, Peter’s Friends, Howards End, Dead Again, Impromptu, Henry V, Fortunes of War, Tutti Frutti
• Sheila Reid – Humans, Doctor Who, Case Studies, Felicia’s Journey, Still Crazy, Brazil, The Dresser
• Sandra Voe – Wallander, Vera Drake, Felicia’s Journey, Breaking the Waves, Immortal Beloved, Takin’ over the Asylum, Naked, Local Hero
• Sean Biggerstaff – Harry Potter
• Why? Emma Thompson. Good film.
• Seen:  Once before. Now 12 April 2020

             Photographer Frances (Thompson) is grieving for her dead husband. Her mother Elsbeth (Law), old and ailing, comes to help her, talking almost incessantly about old times. Frances’s teenaged son Alex (Hollywood) is pursued by the cheeky Nita (Cockburn). Two old women Chloe (Voe) and Lily (Reid) wait for the bus, gossip and go to a funeral. Two young boys Tom (Biggerstaff) and Sam (Murphy) play hooky, talk about sex and walk on the ice.

       It’s a cold bleak February in a small coastal Scottish town. The harsh landscape and monochromatic village are stunningly beautiful.

       It’s a lovely, quiet, slow-moving film. Law and Thompson – mother and daughter in real life – are brilliant in their love-hate bickering. The whole cast is wonderful.

5* of 5, maybe even 5 ½