Kissed by Winter

I loved this film!No other AMAZON customers have "reviewed" this film. So, this is my wholehearted endorsement of this gem - to hopefully draw attention to the pleasures this film offers.The Scandinavian setting was a definite attraction. The plot is unique and interesting. However, the lead actress is what makes the film. The film is otherwise well-cast, with cast members who are refreshingly new. Indeed, the entire film is refreshing - as being NON-Hollywood.The lead actress's performance is fascinating, captivating. I was spellbound by her. This actress's expressions often seemed so stern and inscrutable, yet she has a smile that could melt the North Pole.I discovered this film by accident, in an idle moment, when I searched AMAZON.com for Scandinavian films of interest. This film seemed problematical, but was recommended, so I purchased it on a lark. I hit the jackpot. I have viewed this film several times already, and expect to view it again from time to time.

... and this is a Norwegian film with all the "sorg" any appreciator of dark films could ask for. The darkness is all framed by the whiteness of a Norwegian winter, so that one is compelled to wonder whether Winter isn't the protagonist. The snowplow driver Kai, who becomes both the murder suspect and the lover in this film, says jokingly "Gud er en god fyr -- God is a good guy", but Victoria, the Oslo doctor who has fled to the back country of Norway to escape her 'sorg' and 'skyldfølelse' (guilt), thinks otherwise. "God is simply mean," she says, though what she really thinks is that Life is mean. This is, on some level, a film about being Norwegian (or Swedish) and therefore kissed by 'sorg' and 'skyldfølelse'. Are 'bleak and 'beautiful' compatible adjectives? They'd better be, if you want to appreciate this film.Victoria is played by Annika Hallin, whose face is wonderfully bleak and beautiful. It's the acting that makes this movie poignant. Kristoffer Joner, in the role of Kai, is beautifully boyish and bleakly needy - a man whose wife has deserted him in the back country and taken his daughter to the city. The cinematography is beautiful; well of course! it's a Scandinavian flick, though neither as introverted nor as subtle as a classic Ingmar Bergman drama of bleak passion. Indeed, the whole film is well crafted, edited, acted, scripted. It falls short of five-star artistry only in one odd implausibility. The doctor mother fails to detect her son's leukemia; she misreads his lethargy as a moral weakness, a failure of energy for life. She drags him from his TV and his couch, with tragic results. Yeah yeah, it's in the script, it's the motivation for her flight to the snowfields, but I didn't 'buy' it and neither did my wife when we watched it together.There's also a sub plot. The young man who is found frozen in the snow, whose death is blamed on Kai, is a Muslim refugee, living with his parents in a camp for refugees. The portrayals of the his Muslim parents is credible and not unsympathetic. The Norwegians of the countryside are likewise not unsympathetic -- bleakly generous, you might say -- but it's quite obvious that the refugees have no actuality for them. They are not people of the winter whiteness. Despite the recent anti-Muslim terrorist murder spree in Norway, this depiction of the bleak reserve between Norwegians (and Swedes) -- the dutiful tolerance on one side and the grudging dependence on the other -- seems to me to be precisely realistic.

This is one of many Scandinavian films that I've purchased in the last few months. As with almost all of them, this movie is built on a strong, interesting and provocative screenplay. Also, so many of the Scandinavian film actors are exceptional without being over the top. They occur in the movie as real people that the average movie viewer could imagine in their lives. It is also a great way to learn a bit out the current social concerns in Sweden regarding immigrants.

it was an ok movie. I really like foreign flicks. You get to see other cultures and there are some really great story lines...and surprisingly many of the foreign movies Ive watched are really well produced and directed. This movie wasnt too bad but really not the greatest either. It was ok.

The first time I watched this, I did not really like it. The second time I watched it, I began to see its merits. The third time I about fell in love with it. It's been a while, so I'm considering a fourth go round. A friend of mine has the DVD as well, and we both agreed it takes time to grow on you.

I was hesitant to watch this film, the setting seemed so dreary. But, I loved it! It is magical, romantic, great acting, deep script, suspenseful... pretty much all one might want for a quiet thoughtful suspense drama.

I liked the movie and its story. Very sensitive, insightful, and well edited. I was glad it ended the way it did.

Hauntingly beautiful Swedish film about loss has me hoping to share this DVD with my students soon.After seeing this, I realized how many of my favorite films such as "A Handful of Dust" concern loss.