Early Winter is a stark and unflinching portrait of two lost souls sleepwalking through a decaying marriage.
Recovering alcoholic David (Paul Doucet) is a janitor in a Quebec retirement home, dutifully punching the clock, quietly ignored by his family. In a standout performance, Suzanne Clément (Mommy, Lawrence Anyways) plays his younger wife Maya, who escapes her dull small-town existence by fixating on the glowing screens of a world of gadgetry beyond Paul’s comprehension. Their union is workmanlike, disconnected and cold – but when Paul suspects Maya of infidelity, their verbal skirmishes turn volatile.
Winning the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2010, writer/director Michael Rowe is a distinctive voice in Australian cinema. This heartbreaking vision of withered affection recently scooped the Venice Film Festival’s Venice Days Award.
Director Michael Rowe and Producer Trish Lake in attendance on 21 Nov; Producer Trish Lake and Editor Geoff Lamb in attendance on 24 Nov
