The Sweet Hereafter

Director: Atom Egoyan
Cast:
Ian Holm
Sarah Polley
Maury Chaykin

Some films are like "tone poems"—they say more in atmosphere than dialogue, express feelings through hearts rather than heads. Such is the case for Atom Egoyan's astonishingly beautiful film "The Sweet Hereafter," a work of such labyrinthine sweetness and sadness that it's one of the few films I'm having trouble discussing. You simply have to see it.

A tragic school bus accident leaves a town grieving for its children. Some survive, some perish, and others walk away with wounds they can only partially heal. Ian Holm plays a lawyer who comes to the small town to represent the families who have lost children, but his own battle is uphill; there may not be anyone at fault but a patch of ice, and his own daughter keeps him from completely assuming the role of swooping vulture. His countenance, rich in anger, pain and frustration, drives this movie forward—we love him as we much as we hate what he's doing.

The real magic here, however, belongs to a 19-year-old actress named Sarah Polley, heir apparent to Jodie Foster's understated brilliance. Forget supermodels and Spice Girls, all of your 14-year-olds should be obssessing over Ms. Polley—her almond eyes, her gorgeous voice, even her singing haunts this movie like a spectre of effortless beauty. Her revenge on her own father, as well as the story of the Pied Piper which resonates through a town that has lost its children and its soul, gives "The Sweet Hereafter" its purpose, its redemption, and its hope.

With Bruce Greenwood, Alberta Watson and Tom McCamus. Screenplay by Atom Egoyan, from the novel by Russell Banks.

—Ian Williams

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