Four interconnecting stories: The main one being a woman argues with her elderly, busybody mum about a possible move to Australia for her and her son after the untimely death of her hubby. Meanwhile, said teen has his first sexual experience with a girl who's been stalking him for months. Also on the agenda are two boys adventures while playing truant from school, and a couple of old friends taking a coach ride to attend a funeral. All this is set in the template of a very wintry Scotland, where even the sea has frozen over.A slow burning meditation on life among different generations, it manages to be quietly moving without having to resort to overdramatising. All of these people FEEL real, and their segments are each satisfying in their own way, even interlinking at certain points. As a demonstration in acting its a masterclass, with special honours reserved for Phyllida Law as the overbearing, interfering mother from Hell. Probably not a classic, but gratifying enough. And the beautiful white landscape is a star all by itself.. 6/10

Don't know about you, but i just loved the movie. It was very interesting to discover Alan Rickman as a Director - and i wasn't disappointed with the result in any way. First, the 'structure' of the movie: tiny episodes from every plot line, their gentle crossing with each other. Then, these plot lines themselves - i found them pictured with more subtlety and tenderness than i had believed possible.What struck me most was the teenage boys' behaviour. Or, to be more precise, the abrupt change in both of them - from cigarettes, swearing, and all this genitals-related speech to the sudden gentle manner when they find and adopt baby kittens. Is it how we grow up? Does it only take a helpless creature, who has nothing and no-one to depend on, to step towards maturity? Frances' (Emma Thompson) drama about her lost husband expresses silent grief, which is more felt than seen from her performance. Her mother Elspeth (Phyllida Law), adds even more emotion to it. While usual movies concentrate on showing the 'action', here the very sight of Elspeth's slow journey towards her daughter's house speaks volumes. What can we learn from her? That old age cannot be fought? Or, that the journey to another soul is long and winding? or both?..The other two plot lines are magnificent as well. I won't delve into every single moment that made me shudder, for everyone finds their own special episodes. What i can say is that the movie didn't leave any dazzling impressions. No vivid flashbacks. Only a feeling of winter silently creeping into our souls and staying there for long. Not the freezing, icy season. But the feeling of a thick blanket of snow. The thrill you get when you hear snow crackling beneath your feet. The strange yet peaceful emotion when witnessing the earth sleep.Who is the winter guest? Alan Rickman has been asked about it in some interview. He said he didn't know it himself. It might be death, however. Who is the winter guest for every one of us? Death, which comes alien and unexpected. Winter, bringing sleep and slumber into our ordinary lives. Grief, which covers our hearts with ice. Life, which stirs beneath the layers of ice and snow. Different for each and every one. The movie is leaving much space to insert your own emotions and feelings. To accept your own, personal winter guest. I have learned to accept mine.

Like any great film, this is close to the essence of life. In four poetic,hearthwarming scenes, different generations of characters are entangled in alonging for protection and affection. Two woman wait at a bus stop for a day out to a funeral, but behind their apparent, casual view on death lies a hidden fear for their own end. A new girl in town chases after a local boy, both searchthrough their mutual attraction towards each other. Two schoolboys are playing near the frozen sea and talk about their future. And all this is bound by the main story of a mother-daughter relationship. From the first flight over the seascape, to the final scene with one of the boys walking into the mist, everything is filmed and directed with the same sense for intense images and esthetic realism. And when on the tones of Liz Fraser, lovingly singing the end-credits, the filmends.....and there's a certain sadness that one already has to leave this beautiful universe behind. "The Winter guest" is again (if their ever was doubt) the prove how superior European cinema is compared to the Hollywood-counterpart. I rest my case.

The Winter Guest is a beautiful film, which looks at the rejuvenation of life after a death and the continuation of love and life in society. The setting is unusual but hauntingly beautiful (Scotland in winter) and the employment of some of the best acting talents of today all help to make a movie which causes a viewer to consider life and death, a reflective film beautifully done.