Handsomely mounted and nicely textured, helmer Hans Steinbichler's "Winter Journey" needs help in the script department to properly complement fine thesping and d.p. Bella Halben's beautiful widescreen lensing. Loosely structured around Schubert's song cycle "Winterreise," the pic traces the downward journey of a manic depressive who becomes susceptible to an obviously fraudulent scam. While the narrative holds interest, the protag's unconvincing naivete and the now overused Teutonic search for African affinities creates an ultimately unsatisfying trip. Fests will join in the wander, but travel further afield won't offer smooth sailing.A thick blanket of snow covers the German town where Franz (Josef Bierbichler) has been alienating friends and family with his sudden outbursts and constant insults. Wife Martha (Hanna Schygulla) tries to get through to the demons inside him, but she's ill and quickly going blind, a state of isolation enhanced by Franz's increasingly erratic behavior.
Once wealthy, the now debt-ridden Franz gets a letter from Kenya asking him to allow millions of dollars to be transferred through his German account. With the help of Kurdish translator Leyla (Sibel Kekilli), he sets up a meeting where the lure of quick cash is too tempting. Claiming he'll use the money to pay for Martha's much needed eye surgery, he borrows funds from son Xaver (Philipp Hochmair) but instead deposits E50,000 into the Kenyan account as "a guarantee."
Naturally it's a fraud. Franz takes whatever funds he has left and, accompanied by the no-nonsense, prickly Leyla, flies to Nairobi to recover the money.
Much as depression and loss form the core of Schubert's masterful song cycle, so here Franz's uncontrollable disposition, wildly swinging from high to low, creates the paths on which he wanders, at times even more blind than Martha. But why a successful businessman gets taken in by a common shyster is a perplexing matter, and his unbearable selfishness and general boorishness do nothing to evoke sympathy.
At times resembling an even more blowsy Gerard Depardieu, Bierbichler brings unlimited energy and expansiveness to the role, but he's so overcome by his mood swings (accompanied by jiggly handheld lensing) that any charm the man had earlier has been thoroughly disguised. Schygulla beautifully underplays her scenes, making such a sympathetic contrast that it's difficult to look at anyone else when she's onscreen. Kekilli, so powerful in "Head-On," has little to do.
Pic's highlight is the masterful lensing, making much use of contrasts between the cold, snow-reflected light of Germany and the golden warmth of the African sun. Glorious landscapes betray more than a passing influence from the German romantic painters, especially in a scene when Franz drives slowly through the snow, stopping with his headlights focused on a lone tree.
Camera (color, widescreen), Bella Halben; editor, Anne Loewer; music, Antoni Lazarkiewicz; production designers, Johannes Sternagel, Doerthe Komnick; costume designer, Barbara Grupp; sound (Dolby SR), Quirin Bohm; assistant director, Meno Sellschopp; casting, Nessie Nesslauer. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (market), May 20, 2006. (Also in Karlovy Vary Film Festival -- competing.) Running time: 96 MIN.
