Yesterday, when I received word from the Starz Denver Film Festival that the feature “SISTER” (which won the Silver Bear in Germany) nabbed a film award (The Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Foreign Feature Film) my expectations for a screening I was slated to attend later in the evening were heightened.
The foreign film – beautifully-shot in the picturesque climbs of the Swiss Alps – started off innocently enough.
In the opening scenes, the audience is introduced to a twelve-year-old boy and his sister, who are struggling to make ends meet in the shadow of a ritzy ski resort.
Early on it is firmly established that the lad has discovered how to survive without the creature comforts of a comfortable home provided by loving parents.
Each day, the aggressive young man treks up to the top of the mountain, where he proceeds to blend in so that he is able to pilfer the personal effects of wealthy tourists to be sold to the highest bidder in the valley below.
At one point, his sister gets involved in the scam, though it does not prove to be an easy out for her talents.
Throughout the course of the film, the very pretty “damsel in distress” often takes off on a whim without explanation to her brother, leaving the audience to wonder what she does for a living.
The twosome’s bond is suddenly torn asunder when the boy utters up a startling revelation one fine day when he tags along on a date she expects to turn into a meaningful loving relationship.
On the heels of a physical altercation a disturbing scene unfolds which just about turns my stomach!
As far as I’m concerned, the subject matter was strictly taboo, and the director – in my estimation – crossed the line.
For sure, I was anxious to pick her head about the plot line, if possible.
Since the writer/director was scheduled to appear at a Q & A after the screening, I lingered in the theatre when the lights went up with the intention of raising my thoughts on the issues.
Unfortunately, when the discussion started up, the host (an LA TIMES reporter) put the big focus on how the tale about the child thief came into “being”, what the film industry was like in Europe, and so-forth-and-so-on.
Frustrated, I slipped out the door to take the long trek home.
In the street, I chatted up a pedestrian heading in my direction.
“Did you just catch that flick,” I quizzed.
“No. What was it?”
“It was an independent film,” I responded.
Then, I decided to pose a question.
“Do you think that Europeans are more open-minded when it comes to taboo subjects?”
“In foreign films?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Yes. That’s why I like ‘em!”
There it was in a nutshell.
Maybe it was just me.
I was raised in a safe environment and taught that children should be schooled about what is right and wrong, and that they should be protected from the seedy underbelly of society in their tender years.
On the surface, "SISTER" appears to be a film just about a brother/sister relationship.
But, beneath it all, it is a cautionary tale about morality, parenthood, honesty, the borders one should never cross (and so much more).
Was the director - Ursula Meier – totally clueless?
You decide!
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