Search - The Window on DVD

Powerful and Hopeful Story Explores the Spiritual Gifts of A

David Crumm | Canton, Michigan | 08/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Window" proves the universal appeal of well-made movies. Carlos Sorín's story is set in Patagonia, yet the rolling ranch on which the aging patriarch lives could be a setting out of a Western in the American Plains. As Antonio, the patriarch, prepares for the return of his beloved son, this could be a character envisioned by Hemingway or Faulkner or John Ford.

What turns this into great cinema is that Sorín paints his story with his camera. There's a 10-minute segment in which the old man, who has been bedridden for a long time, suddenly feels such inspiration that he decides to walk through his gardens and fields once again. It's an almost wordless sequence, yet you won't move a muscle as it unfolds.

Watch how tantalizing memories and stories emerge as the big house is cleaned for the son's visit. And, toward the end of the film, watch how the father's vision paints scenes in the house--and how the son's vision paints similar scenes.

While the film may sound simple and the story may sound somber, you'll find a whole lot to discuss after it ends-exploring how the scenes from various perspectives merge and separate spiritually. "The Window" elevates the whole reflection on aging to a different, deeper level-pointing toward gifts within this universal journey."

The Window

William T. Sublette | Southern California, USA | 02/15/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This movie would be painfully slow for most US audiences. To me, it was a minute study of the uneventful."