This debut feature by Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, an SFX specialist, is predictably strong on the visual side, with the use of animation in several sequences enhancing a sense of magical realism. As compelling narrative, however, The Winter leaves something to be desired. The plot focuses on Niko (Theo Albanis), a struggling writer living in London who lies to his mother back in Greece about being happy and successful. Cutting an eccentric figure in his tattered waistcoat and stovepipe hat, Niko finally runs out of money and decamps to the crumbling family homestead in Siatista, the small town in the mountains of northern Greece where he grew up. Here he begins to recall his boyhood, particularly the fantastic stories that his father (Vangelis Mourikis) breathlessly told him before bedtime. Niko's isolation—punctuated only by occasional encounters with a beautiful young townswoman, a chatty old neighbor, and the stern village priest—leads him to seek answers to the questions that haunt him: why did his parents separate, and how did his father die? Eventually, Niko discovers the truth, but is also confronted by doubts concerning his own future: will he be a prisoner of his family's past, or can he break free of the ghosts that fill both the house and his dreams? The Winter opts for mood and atmosphere over narrative clarity, but the striking imagery still makes this a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
The Winter
IndiePix, 105 min., in Greek w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.95, Mar. 29 Volume 31, Issue 3
The Winter
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