hrhlucky I have now watched the film 3 times (2 times in one day most recently) I have always come upon it without planning. I am now going to own it. Not one wasted word...not one wasted shot. Each character expressing another aspect of the path we travel as mortals. I write...and I am humbled by the stark and simple beauty of it...and it's complete expression of the human condition. To all who participated in its creation... THANK YOU! The guidelines say I have to write more...so the Director, writer and DP clearly shared a vision. Every shot supported each character spoken and unspoken word, thought and deed. It would be so lovely if American film would take a page from this book. Imagine if we started making films about 'thinking people' what that might do for the world. Ahhhh...but alas...so much easier to make the lower choice. Again this film touched my heart in a way few do. Namaste.

jwalzer5 What a wonderful film this was. Quiet, thoughtful, beautiful performances. The children and young adults were particularly fine. When it was over, I wanted to see it again. Can one pay greater tribute to a film? Emma Thompson's character was beautifully realized and the subplot of two women arguing as they prepare to attend a funeral was very well done. The Scottish "brogue" spoken by the two boys was a little hard on this American's ears at first, but I quickly adapted - and those two boys proved to be the most compelling characters in the film. This was one of those films that "sneaks" up on you. I started watching it, expecting nothing much, but was drawn into it. I highly recommend it.

scarlet478 I will admit that the only reason why I decided to watch this movie was because of Sean Biggerstaff. I was curious about what kind of real talent he had (his part in the Harry Potter movies was way too shallow to let anything show). Well, on that front, I was not disappointed. He, along with the rest of the cast, gave excellent performances. I felt that they were all very natural. And that's great, since the backbone of the film is more or less a series of character sketches. Without good acting, this film would have fallen flat on its face.As far as plot and storyline goes, there really isn't any. But that doesn't bother me- sometimes instead of focusing on a story, I like to focus on moments. The Winter Guest is full of moments; many were melancholy, but there were a few amusing ones too, thanks to Tom and Sam. I came away from this film wanting to see it a second time.

s82110 First I wanna mention the music of TWG by Michael Kamen. I was shocked to find that he had passed away in 2003 from the Academy Awards "In Memoriam". He poetically and gracefully used the simple piano music in TWD, which led the audience go into the alienated world with warm spirit.I have to admit that I bought this film because I'm a Rickman fan. I was just curious about his first & only film directing. It's adapted from the play by Sharman Macdonald, who also worked on the film script with Alan. In 1997's Chicago Film Festival,TWD even "beat" talented Ming-liang Tsai's "The River", awarded with the Golden Hugo.In my opinion, there's no such thing as "win " or "lose" in a film festival. But this fact also pushed me to see TWD.I can't say there's nothing awkward in TWD. The way they edited the film, say, is not smooth enough; it just kept on reminding me that it's adapted from a play. But also, the off-screen voice was well-used in a few scenes. For instance, Alex told the girl Nita about the love between his Mom & Dad(after he found the house seemed to be "haunted"), overlapped with her mom Frances'(Emma Thompson) breakdown on the mountain. They also perfecly made the opening scene of Mom & Daughter. Mom is walking and cleaning the house; the Daughter stays in the bathroom to keep herself away from Mom's nagging. They dialogued in this way. We can clearly see how they get along. Not too friendly, but caring for each other. You can find Frances grieve over sth, in her private space. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey("The Hours", "The Wit") was so great that he captured some dignity or beauty of life in his long take. I particularly like the scene when Frances held her mother's hand to climb up the hill. Suddenly her mother revealed some part of her fragility. The wall that she supported with also rubbed her hand, along with her nagging and France's silence, this long-take would be such a memorable moment for this film. The high-angle shot of the bus in the field, what can I say, just tells what I mean of "dignity of life". Two old women took the bus to attend a funeral. You never knew where life is going to take you.It's a story of "4 pairs of people". It's important to emphasize on this form the scriptwriters took. While too many films talked about the loneliness of modern people, TWD walked the other way to present life itself. People in TWD may not really be able to understand each other; at least they have a company to walk on the slippery road.Being as a actor-turned-director(especially a British actor), Rickman gave lots of space for the cast. I hope he can direct more. Some places need to be improved, but still Bravo for Mr. Rickman's heart-warming debut.