Plot
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
Release Year: 2014
Rating: 5.9/10 (1,277 voted)
Director:Akiva Goldsman
Storyline
New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake (
Writers: ,
Taglines:
This is not a true story. This is true love.
Trivia:
When questioned by the Los Angeles Times about why Warner Bros. believed that he's the right man to write and direct the film, Akiva Goldsman replied: "I'm the kind of romantic that likes to find the meaning in things. Just in its natural course, life is sufficiently hard. And if you can find the hope underneath that, that there is connectedness and some reason to it, then there's some comfort in that. That's what I've learned anyway. And I think that feeling is in the movie." See more »
User Review
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If you have not read the book, use this review as a reason to either
bypass the film initially and read the book first, or to understand
that the screenplay is a huge departure from the intended story.
The novel Winter's Tale is a romance with a supernatural overtone
bathed in a tribute to New York City if it could always remain in a
mystical state. The book is sometimes verbose, often funny, and
heartfelt in it's depiction of love. The movie insults your intellect
by ignoring the vast symbolism used in the book. Example: Time Travel -
The book allows for you to understand certain characters have time
traveled, while the movie insists certain characters travel only to
follow others telling you that they are supernatural beings. It's NOT
so. Here is exactly where the director really fowled the film.
Deviating from the author's intent, turning the story into a devil's
agents interplay is awkward out of place. The devil was NEVER once
mentioned or implied in the original story. Yes, some devices are
necessary in film to help the audience, but Pearly Soames purpose as a
protagonist in the film is reduced to silly. Furthermore Pearly's
reason for chasing Peter had nothing to do with Peter's love for
Beverly. Pearly never met Beverly in the novel. Here is one more
non-spoiler as it too won't be found in the film. In the book, Pearly's
purpose for chasing Peter Lake began the moment he forced Peter Lake
into his employ and Peter later turned a huge heist against Pearly.
Pearly's gang was decimated for a time. From that day forward, Pearly's
will to kill Peter grew in every chase that left him empty handed.
Being sold as a straight up romance or love story is almost a mistake
because the film does try to encompass the much larger story
surrounding the love affair. From Peter Lake's horse which has a story
of his own to a wildly funny malapropian newspaper editor named Craig
Binky. Other Characters such as Virginia Gamely were altered
ridiculously. Virginia was from the Lake of the Coherees in the novel.
In the film, she is just another New Yorker. This is where the film
falls apart. The director's vain effort to include the other threaded
stories inside the book are convoluted.
When you use the same title as a book for a movie it's wise to make an
honest adaptation, otherwise change the name of the movie from the book
entirely to avoid comparisons entirely. Then follow the guide of
placing in the credits, "based on the story Winter's Tale by Mark
Helprin." Director Akiva Goldsman (also wrote the screenplay)
zig-zagged across both these traditional paths and the story suffered
in his mash-up. Change a characters hair color, but don't change their
role or destiny.
In this case Winter's Tale isn't even a director's interpretation. The
book weaves a subtle supernatural element that may be so vague that the
director wanted to spell it out to moviegoers. In doing so, he dumbs
down the original story to the point it insults the audience, holding
their hand and telling them what to think as opposed to letting the
moviegoer figure things out.
Winter's Tale is condensed, filtered and sanitized of it's soul. Even
without having read the novel, evidence of awkward changes for the
screenplay dumb down the original subtle supernatural theme which was
ironically as clear in it's message as it was abstract in it's
delivery.
As a romance film there are heartfelt moments and the chemistry between
Peter Lake and Beverly Penn does have enough strength to bring a tear
to some audience members. Collin Farrell's soft humanity is felt quite
often too. Yet, except for a candid conversation among the two men
Peter Lake and Isaac Penn which draws an intellectual laugh, there is
no humor to break up the tension in the film. Yes, the contrast of the
book is once again worth noting. The book had meaningful characters
which were lost in the movie. They were not a direct part of the love
story, and as such were eliminated. Eliminating so many great elements
of the original story killed the journey Peter Lake would take you
through. The cinematography alone in Winter's Tale was not enough to
paint the fantastic picture of the magical New York City the author
intended as a character in the story. Without that fabric the mystical
world Peter Lake and Beverly Penn exist is absent.
Winter's Tale is a complex supernatural love story with too many
important characters to have fit into a short two or three hour film.
It's not written in a manner that would translate into a part one and
part two series either. Perhaps it's best medium will one day be a
mini- series a network can allow to play out over five to eight
episodes. It's often said that the journey is the reward and the story
of Winter's Tale is a long journey that cannot be condensed. In this
case, spotlighting one part of the journey is not fulfilling either.
Let's just make one thing clear to anyone that has neither read the
book nor seen the movie. The love story in this film takes place in the
first quarter of the novel. There are three remaining quarters to the
story that thread the love story of Peter Lake and Beverly Penn into
the overall journey, but their story is told early and ends early.
Well, that's not entirely true. And yet it is. Now for all those clues
and a tease, don't you just wonder what a book that has three quarters
more to say – has to say? For my full review just search my name, Lars
Hindsley and you'll find DangerMans Lair.
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