Review of The Sweet Hereafter (1997) by Mark L — 04 Jan 2008

This fine 1997 film deals with loss, pain and survival within a small community after a devastating school bus accident in which a number of the town's children perish. Director Atom Egoyan paints in emotional and musical grays in this telling through flashbacks of the story around which the characters attempt to continue to live their lives. Even though we know from the outset that the accident happens, the event itself isn't shown until well into the film. It isn't sensationalized, and its simple, quick passing happens from a distance.

I've enjoyed Bruce Greenwood for many years, but I've never been moved my his performance until this viewing of this film. And Gabrielle Rose is marvelous as the heartbroken suriving bus driver, Doloris. Ian Holm plays an attorney you'd like to hate, but he's turned into a human being under his own pains. My girlfriend noted that young Sarah Polley ("Nicole") probably learned a few things from Egoyan prior to her own excellently directed film (AWay From Her, 2006) which Egoyan produced.