Vinterkyss (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Sara Johnsen

Writers:

Ståle Stein Berg (writer)
Sara Johnsen (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (Norway)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

After her son is hospitalized, a doctor cheats on her husband with a snow plow driver who is a suspect in her investigation of the recent death of a young Arab boy.

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Annika Hallin	...	Victoria
Kristoffer Joner	...	Kai
Fridtjov Såheim	...	Stein
Göran Ragnerstam	...	Filip
Linn Skåber	...	Wibeke
Axel Zuber	...	Sune
Jade Francis Haj	...	Darjosh
Michalis Koutsogiannakis	...	Darjosh´s father
Mina Azarian	...	Darjosh´s mother
Trine Wiggen	...	Gerd
Klara Døving	...	Maja
Henrik Storsveen	...	Ben
Luis Engebrigtsen Bye	...	Inge
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nina Andresen Borud	...	Bens mor

Also Known As:

Gutten i snøen (Norway) (working title)
Kissed by Winter (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

84 min | Finland:77 min

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian | English | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Norway:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Norway

Company:

Friland

Trivia:

Selected to represent Norway at the 78th Annual Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category.

Soundtrack:

The Avowal

Well-acted, great story, yet confusing at times...

A well-done film from Norway, shot in many flashbacks and side-stories. It follows a bit on how many Norwegian films are made, with the slow pacing against the crisply cold northern Scandinavian snow. The tale concerns Victoria, a female doctor in a small country town in Norway. She is just fitting in, as a boy's body is found in the snow. An autopsy is called to find if the body was involved in foul play. The story of the dead boy - a Muslim refuge immigrant - falls in with a side storyline of Victoria. Victoria is continuously calls to her estranged husbands' home in Sweden to see how her potentially ill son is doing. Along the story path, different twists form as blame for the snow-found boy's death seems to point in different directions. Ultimately, along with the mystery, the film really tells several moral tales, primarily about parenting. The physician mother who pays little attention to her own son, a dead boy's father coming to terms with his own culture's attitudes, and a suspect who is a seemingly good father, but yet has his own intentions and well-being in mind first. The cultural differences of an American audience with life in Norway might seem stark by comparison, but is well portrayed. The film itself, in how the story is told, is a bit confusing at times, but does tie in neatly at the end. Some viewers might not be able to follow all the side-flashes and flashbacks, which could slow the ending's meaning, but overall, this is a film well worth viewing. In addition, "Wynterkiss" featured a Leonard Cohen penned song, "Hallelujah", hauntingly performed by the late Jeff Buckley.