For the festive season, merry and jolly themed, Forget for now Saint Nick and presents dreamed; Winter’s tale I would suggest for you to view Portraying love, miracles and feelings true.
After this cheesy and totally unnecessary introduction (just like Christmas lights at the beginning of November) that I could have just as easily spared you, let us dive once again in the movie-of-the-month not-so-professional-review column. I hope you are reading this article possibly under a warm blanket, with a hot cup of cocoa or tea, hopefully not working and just gazing outside of a window with a picturesque view as the snow is slowly falling down. Coincidentally that would also be a good description of a situation in which to put on the movie that I have yet to introduce properly.
Winter’s tale (not the one written by the Bard) is a 2014 fantasy movie that portrays a heart-warming romantic story. It stars Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay as well as several famous actors that you would undoubtedly recognize immediately.
Since in this particular case I do not want to spoil the plot, I would rather talk about the world building and the ideas behind the setting; that way, if you are interested, you can go and watch the movie (which would be the general idea of why I recommending a movie every moth).
There is a world behind the world where we are all connected, all part of a great and moving plan; magic is everywhere around us, we just have to look, look closely, for even time and distance are not what they appear to be.
This initial quote of the movie sets the tone for the entire plot: believe in miracles (sorry, not the Christmas miracles you would be used to during this season), believe in the impossible, believe in limitless human potential that transcend the boundaries of time. The core idea of the movie is that in an eternal war between good and evil, humans are what I would identify as point keepers; it is not a war fought by armies, but by individuals. Whether humans are able to accomplish their miracle or not also represents the proportion of who is winning. To an extent, this miracle that every individual has within them could also be identified as destiny. I would dare argue that that is all that you need to know. A fairly simplistic concept that works wonders…or miracles…if the story is properly written.
As a last note, I do want to say that the acting is top notch and even the simple stares and silences between some of the characters are expressive enough to convey a world of connotations. Colin Farrell has my appreciation as an actor, for this movie as well as many others (not looking at you, The lobster – just wtf happened there?). Also, just an FYI, Hans Zimmer worked on the soundtrack, and that is pretty much a guarantee of quality.
I would give this movie 7 out of 10 “voyagers, set on a course towards destiny to find the one person their miracle is meant for”.