The Sweet Hereafter

1997 "There is no such thing as the simple truth."
7.5| 1h52m| R| en| More Info
Released: 21 November 1997 Released
Producted By: Fine Line Features
Country: Canada
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.

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Prismark10 Atom Egoyan's, The Sweet Hereafter is a film about loss and recovery. An accident involving a school bus in snowy Canadian roads has left a small town devastated which left many children dead. The grieving parents are visited by a no win no fee lawyer, Mitchell Stevens (Ian Holm.) He is a partner in a law firm and he might be just doing his job but it seems to be without much vigour or conviction. I am not sure whether money is even a motivation for him. Stevens own daughter is a drug addict who only contacts him when she wants money for more drugs. Apart from that she hates him and he knows he has lost her.He persuades some of the parents to file a class action lawsuit by claiming the design or construction of the bus was faulty.The grieving parents and some of the survivors all have some secret. Did bus driver Dolores Driscoll (Gabrielle Rose) drive too fast or drive carelessly given the road conditions? Does Nicole Burnell (Sarah Polly) one of the kids paralysed below the waist might want to take revenge on her abusive father? One of the parent, Billy (Bruce Greenwood) who was following the bus and waving at his children is against the lawsuit and wants the others to drop it.The film does not start with the crash. It is told in non chronological order and we have several story strands. one of them is the use of 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' which draws parallels of a town suffering from the loss of its children. Maybe Stevens will lead the townsfolk out of the darkness but he is suffering as well when he recounts his struggle with his drug addict daughter to one of her old friends he meets in a plane journey.The film is about grief, sadness and the tortuous journey to recovery. Unfortunately the film does not always flow well and although I understand why some people would want to sue for damages, I never really understood why Billy did not want to sue? Nicole is paralysed, money would be useful to her and help her.
imbluzclooby Tragedy and moral ambiguity are explored at a very elongated and deliberate pace in this tale of a small rural town coping with a colossal tragedy. This is one of those Art house films that will most likely test the patience of viewers in that it's about 45 minutes too long. At least 30 minutes could have been shaved off this film to deliver its intended purpose or message whatever it may have been. We have scenes where we have family discussions and the dialogue is delivered in a very slow, monotone and lethargic rhythm. I'm not certain if this was Egoyan's method of directing the actors or if this is an underlying problem in the actors themselves. If this movie intends to be a realistic portrayal of people's responses to personal tragedy then we have a crucial problem. If not, then this can only serve as a morose allegory of cinema. The poetic narrations performed by the teenage survivor of the crash add a layer of content to the theme, but fail to provide any substantial meaning to the plot. Therefore it is up to us to make sense of this. The story of Hamelin's Pied Piper may have a personal significance to the character of Nicole, but doesn't resonate too well with the viewer. The plot and directing style doesn't connect us with the characters on an empathetic level. We are alienated from their internalized grief and aren't given enough time with them to experience that which i believe is completely necessary in stories of tragedy.Ian Holm, as the morally questionable attorney, is misused as a key character here. As a morally bifurcated and broken man we may initially cast him as a villain, but later see him as a broken man trying to identify with parents of dead or degenerate children. Greed can turn into munificence if handled tactically and justly. His acting style here looks too lethargic and preachy. We wonder if he is the effective and prestigious lawyer he pretends to be. It's even questionable why he felt that turning this situation into a Civil Lawsuit was worthwhile. And a result, we are left to decide what his morality and intentions really were. What a pain. Sam Greenwood is a strong presence in the film. With his deep southern drawl and intimidating stare he can register moments of personal confrontation which inadvertently raise the motivations of the characters involved in the lawsuit. The strangest actress in this film would have to be Sarah Polley who is very monotone, deliberate and almost ghostly. Her lilting and melancholy voice seem oddly inappropriate for a girl who is dealing with what she is going through. By the twist ending we realize that she is actually more of a manipulator than a damaged girl trying to find her way through. The moment with her pallid father in the car has a comical note which grades against the seriousness of this story.My guess is that this movie is depicting human tragedy as a new and precarious beginning where we feel vulnerable and confused. It's poetic and lugubrious. We are fed a plethora of poetic narrations and moving montages that depress and sedate our senses.
Python Hyena The Sweet Hereafter (1997): Dir: Atom Egoyen / Cast: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood, Tom McCamus, Maury Chaykin: Terrific film about the promise of a better tomorrow. A community loses children in a tragic bus accident and Ian Holm plays a lawyer who arrives to represent the town in a lawsuit. Contact with his daughter brings memories of a time when she nearly died. Director Atom Egoyen who previously made Exotica employs symbolic images using the Pied Piper story. Holm is flawless as a lawyer bent on covering up his mistakes by solving others. His presence is not welcome amongst town folks, and his daughter calling only brings grief and regret. Great supporting work by Sarah Polley as a wheelchair victim whom Holm is trying to convince to assist in the lawsuit. She was seated at the front of the bus and as a result she became paralyzed from the waist down. Bruce Greenwood plays a father who witnessed the tragedy, and Tom McCamus plays Polley's father who molested her when she was young. Maury Chaykin provides great comic relief during a scene where he explains and basically points fingers in blunt fashion. Many of these people wish to continue onward as oppose to indulge in a lawsuit that can only result in more pain. Emotional film about dealing with loss and protecting children from the reality of fate. Score: 10 / 10
kneiss1 So this is the best rated movie of Atom Egoyan? I love his movies, and I have to say, sadly I expected a bit more. Don't get me wrong, cinematic everything is perfect. This movie is filmed beautifully. Every actor played on an extremely high level and not a single miscast was to be found in this movie! Overall it was a great watch.For me that was only destructed by the story. To me it felt, that the original novel was not suited to become a movie. The whole movie lacked a red thread. Strings didn't seem to be connected, and i failed finding a bigger meaning. All I found have been starting points, ideas. Great ideas, but in the end, the movie didn't work for me. It almost convinced me, but ultimately failed at the ending.