SWEET HEREAFTER, THE: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holm) is a middle aged lawyer rounding up clients in a small Canadian town during winter, after a school bus accident that devastates most families. The two survivors of the crash are the bus driver, Dolores (Gabrielle Rose) and teenager Nicole (Sarah Polley), and like the rest of the living in the town, they have been deeply traumatised. Billy Ansell (Bruce Greenwood) is the lone voice who wants Mitchell out of town and off the case – and the case forgotten. It was an accident. Stephens ploughs on, feeling a sad empathy with the parents who’ve lost their children, while he maintains a tenuous phone relationship with his grown up, drug dependant, distant daughter, Zoe (Caethan Banks). But in the end, it is Nicole who takes a decision that leaves the town to find its own peace in ‘the sweet hereafter’.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
From the opening moment to the closing shot, The Sweet Hereafter is a gripping and fascinating journey through an emotional and psychological forest, in an ever-surprising series of glimpses deep into the hearts and souls of an entire community. Composer Mychael Danna contributes significantly, with an innovative score and orchestrations, extending the musical palate with instruments like the Persian ney. 

Egoyan’s scintillating cinematic touches sparkle throughout the film, like diamonds on the handle of a scythe in the hands of the grim reaper. Moving easily back and forth in time – yet avoiding cliché or stylisation – Egoyan develops the film not so much like a story and a subplot, but as a living snapshot from the town’s photo album, flipped by an unseen, sympathetic relative. Ian Holm’s meticulous, closely observed (and closely shot), complex characterisation deftly carries his own personal story and his professional gambit in one smoothly melded display. 

Sara Polley is every bit as good as she needs to be to portray the suffering youngster whose hopes of a singing career are tragically cut short. There is one vaguely disturbing and inexplicable scene between her and her father Sam (Tom McManus) which appears to be the precursor to consensual sex – but no reference is ever made to it, directly or indirectly, again. This oddity apart, The Sweet Hereafter is satisfyingly challenging in the way it unfolds, but also in its emotional payload. The film is fabulous to watch – whether for the landscapes or the close ups – and the microscopic details of these lives come roaring at us like emotional missiles, often out of the blue.

DVD special features include a 12 minute interview with Egoyan, in which he talks about filmmaking as an instrument. There’s also a trailer, photo gallery plus cast and crew biographies.

Original review published March 11, 2004; DVD review for re-release published November 12, 2009