Displaying items by tag: Brian Kirk

DEAD OF WINTER

Germany, 2025, 98 minutes, Colour.

Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, Gaia Wise, Cuan Hosty-Blaney, Paul Hamilton, Lloyd Hutchinson, Brian F. O'Byrne.

Directed by Brian Kirk.

The emphasis is definitely on winter. But, of course, there is an emphasis on dead.

The setting is Minnesota but the filming was actually done in Finland and Germany, with winter scenes of Finland, snow, iced over rivers and lakes, hills and forests, slippery roads, most of the action taking place over one day, we are immersed in the dead of winter.

Within that day, there are quite a number of flashbacks, cheery and romantic, summer on the lakes. Which means that there is some personalising of the grim story on that fateful day.

And this is very much Emma Thompson’s film, producing it, starring, and, sometimes we might notice in the expression of the actress portraying her in the flashbacks, resemblances, we are right because she is played by Emma Thompson’s daughter, Gaia Wise.

From the 90s, we remember Emma Thompson as archetypally English, Howard’s End, Remains of the Day, Sense and Sensibility (winning an Oscar for writing the screenplay). But, here she is what Americans might call a tough old gal, harsh accent (perhaps channelling something of Glenn Close’s performance as JD Vance’s grandmother in his autobiographical Hillbilly Elegy). And, in some ways, she is moving into what we might call Liam Neeson territory, action hero. But, for most of the films, she has to use her brains rather than brawn though there are quite some physical struggles at the end.

And, why is she here in the dead of winter? Driving slippery roads, getting lost, asking advice from a big tough codger, eventually finding the lake which she and her boyfriend, then husband, used to visit and fish decades ago. And, with some pathos towards the end, we discover that she has a mission to the lake in memory of her husband.

What began as an excursion, turns into something of a deadly thriller. The man who gave her advice is seen pursuing the a young woman with a gun. Barb, our tough adventurer, has a sense of righteousness and goes to investigate, leading her into a complex drama, the young girl abducted and imprisoned, the man under the thrall of his physically and mentally disturbed wife, played by Judy Greer. The screenplay keeps us wondering what exactly is wrong, what exactly the couple are up to, why the young woman has been abducted, and what is her fate.

Some complications when Barb is able to contact two hunters and they approach to investigate the situation, fatally.

So, tough action, an Emma Thompson film – some bloggers have objected to the flashbacks being too romantic and spoiling the thriller atmosphere. This reviewer actually welcomed them, humanising Barb and spelling out her motivation for being there, intervening as well as her skills in action.

1. The title and expectations? Landscapes, the US North, Minnesota, filming in Finland and winter? Frozen lakes and rivers, slow, the roads, the woods? Dead of winter atmosphere? In the background ominous score?
2. The emphasis on dead, indications of dramatic thriller? Variations on the theme?
3. The fishing, revealed as Barbara at the end? Her driving, determination, her age looking her age, the snow, the British, the lake, the fork in the road, the heart, meeting the man, giving directions, her finding the lake, going out to fish, setting up the old shed, the office? Sitting fishing?
4. Audience puzzle, who she is, why, the fishing? The effect of the insertions of the flashbacks, the young couple, together, on the lake, fishing, the ring, the bond, the marriage, together and happy, pregnant, the birth, the loss of the child? The flashbacks indicating memories, urging motivations for action?
5. The man from hat, the young girl running, the shots, his taking her back to the house? Her initial response, going to the house, careful, finding the girl, trying to get in, writing the promise to stay in the window? Losing her glove? The later consequences, her searching, the wound in her arm, needing cover?
6. The arrival of the wife, ill, her nose, the blood, her relationship with her husband? The mystery of her motivations, her frantic behaviour, the rifles and shooting? Personality? The girl, the abduction? Keeping her chained? The husband, lumbering, subservient to his wife? The treatment of the girl?
7. The cars, driving, bar and her car stranded? The confrontation on the ice, the husband falling in, frozen, his wife rescuing him? In the car, the confrontation as Barbara, his wanting to go to hospital, her trusting him, his driving away, erratic, the meeting with his wife? Barbara later coming, the car, the hunters, discovering the husband did in the car?
8. Barbara, her interventions, going to action, using her wits? The confrontation, her being chained? Her story about keeping going, to encourage the girl?
9. Barbara, making communication, the hunters? Her encountering them, their caution, going with her, the house, the car, the wife emerging, shooting dead?
10. The container, the tent and the ice, the revelation about the truth, the illicit organ transplantation, the wife, her illness, her intentions?
11. The two women, on the ice, in the tent, the young woman on the table, her being marked by wife, the shooting, Barbara and her previously on the shoulder, something the stitches? In the tent, wounded, upsetting the table, the starting the fire, the two women on the ice, the physical confrontation? The young girl, getting free, burnt, watching?
12. The rifle, the struggle, the ice, the wife falling through, holding on to Barbara’s and Paul, both women and the water, the flashbacks, the reason for Barbara being the lake, the discussion of the lawyer, the breakfast with her husband, his death? His will and the scattering the ashes in the Lake? Her going down through the ice, scattering the ashes?
13. The plausibility of the plot, especially the illicit transplant? The husband and wife out in the backlogs? The abduction of the girl, the intentions? Barbara, her presence, her interventions?