The Sweet Hereafter

This was my first experience with Canadian director, Atom Egoyan, and one I hope to not forget anytime soon. It's a deeply sad film without being depressing. In fact, I was planning to watch another film after this, but once it was over, I just couldn't bring myself to do that. Ian Holm gives an incredibly complex performance as a trial lawyer investigating a school bus accident in a small town that leaves many of the town's children dead. At the same time, he is dealing with his own daughter who has run away and is on drugs, and ocassionally calls him for money. The various story lines blend together seamlessly and with such a natural grace as to make it seem easy. All throughout the film, bits and pieces of The Pied Piper of Hamlin are read, leading to an obvious though interesting parallel to the stories, with gives the film an almost transcendant quality. It's a very multi-layered film that I can't do justice to in a short space, so I won't try. I don't think that it would be an overly bold statement to call this one of the finest films of the 90's.