Writer/director and former Cannes Caméra d’Or winner Michael Rowe’s new film, Early Winter, a Canadian-Australian co-production set in Quebec, uses cold weather as a metaphor for emotional isolation, and explores the dying days of a flailing marriage. How the film opens – with an unconventionally framed, single-shot sex scene – is a strong indication of what will follow: a slice-of-life drama told with long stationary takes and an achingly slow and serious feel.
When David (Paul Doucet) encourages his wife Mandy (Suzanne Clément) to watch an old TV show like Friends because “at least it’s funny”, he sounds almost sorrowful, his crumpled, deflated presence suggesting the kind of guy who doesn’t laugh a lot. David works as a janitor at a retirement village – a source of little joy – and his family life grows increasingly volatile as the bickering between himself and Mandy escalates.
The director gradually chips away athis introverted protagonist, focusing on everyday chores, squabbles and basic interactions with colleagues and residents of the village. When Mandy notices David swallowing anti-depressants, it is news to her as well as the audience, a reminder of how little we know of these people and how little they seem to know of each other.
Rowe’s direction is closely tuned to Early Winter’s sleety cinematography. He keeps a visual and emotional distance from the characters, as if afraid of divulging too much information. Parts of the actors are often left out of frame, as a reminder that we are being shown only limited visions of their lives. And as most of the action takes place at David’s home or workplace, neither backdrop provides particularly compelling scaffolding, although David’s interactions with frail elderly people show the film at its most tender and interesting.
Rowe is an actor’s director. His people-oriented approach provides plenty of space for the film’s performances to breathe, but with the heavy mood of downbeat restraint there is limited scope for the actors to fully take flight. Doucet and Clément, assigned largely unlikable characters, make an effective if underwhelming pair. If the overall implication is that the sparks are gone from their romance, we certainly feel that. While they are hardly the sort of couple audiences would want to spend any more time with, they provide a vivid depiction of fading lovers butting heads.
