Winter in Wartime

Movie: Winter in Wartime

Genre: war drama

Synopsis: This movie takes place in the winter of 1945 in Nazi-occupied Holland.  When an British warplane crashes, the pilot manages to escape.  In the nearby town, Michiel is the 14-year-old son of the town mayor.  He discovers the downed pilot and decides to help him escape the country.  The escape plan does not go as well as he planned, and Michiel is forced to enlist the aid of his sister.  A subplot follows the relationship between Michiel and his father.  Michiel is ashamed of how his father seems to be happy to work with the Nazis, while his father is trying to get his town through the war with as few casualties as possible.

My two cents: This movie did not do much for me.  I would like to think that when I was 14,  I would have had the good sense to not attempt something like this escape on my own – and if I did, to have planned it better.  It was interesting to see how Michiel discovered that his father was much more of a man than he thought – but not enough to make it worth my time.

Bottom line: given a second chance, I would skip this movie.

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The Music Never Stopped

Movie: The Music Never Stopped

Genre: Drama

Synopsis: Henry Sawyer (J.K. Simmons) is a 65 year old engineer who learns that his son Gabriel (whom he has not seen in almost 20 years) is hospitalized with a brain tumor.  Although the tumor is successfully removed, parts of the brain are damaged – affecting Gabriel’s memory.  Not only are major portions of his memory wiped out, he is unable to form new permanent memories.  If he is introduced to you, 10 minutes later he will have no idea who you are.  Henry gets a music therapist to examine Gabriel.  The therapist discovers that when music and songs that he grew up with are played to Gabriel, it is as if he awakens and is normal.  Music becomes the bridge that allows Henry to reach his son.

My two cents: The write-up I read about this movie did little to catch my interest.  The reason I took the time to see it was J.K. Simmons.  He has never disappointed me and did not let me down here.  This was a fabulous movie.  The further into the movie you get, the more you learn about how deep the estrangement was between father and son and how little Henry understood his son.  It is quite moving to see Henry come to terms with his failures as a father and strives to reach his son.  The scenes where the therapist first discovers how music affects Gabriel gave me goose bumps, as did the climactic concert scene near the end.  Also quite movie are the scenes between Henry and his wife where we get to see the devastating effect the estrangement had on her.

This is a definite “don’t miss it” movie.  I average well over 200 movies a year.  A fair number of the limited release art-house films are disappointing.  "The Music Never Stopped" is the kind of movie that makes it worth sitting through all those disappointments.  It is truly a gem.

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