Thanks to precise direction, “Winter Solstice” is a story about longing for community and closeness.
Few contemporary directors can portray frustrated, helpless men at life’s crossroads like Alexander Payne. He looked at the sad and funny characters of “The Descendants”, “Nebraska” and “Beyroads” with tenderness and empathy, without judging their choices or mistakes. It is no different in the case of “Winter Solstice”, a brilliant combination of a Christmas comedy-drama (it’s really a pity that it is released in wide distribution a month after Christmas) with a story about coming of age, and at the same time about a midlife crisis, a conflict of generations and characters. On the one hand, a bitter, widely disliked lecturer of ancient history (an outstanding role by Paul Giamatti, recently awarded a Golden Globe), and on the other, a rebellious student (Dominic Sessa) who dreamed of going to warm countries, but has to spend the Christmas break on a deserted boarding school campus . They are stuck with each other, and the simmering conflict is barely kept under control, also thanks to the presence of Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who also won a Golden Globe), the school cook, trying to put her life back together after the death of her son during the Vietnam War.
Winter Solstice (The Holdovers), dir. Alexander Payne, prod. USA, 133 min
Policy 5/2024 (3449) of January 23, 2024; Poster. Premieres; p. 70
Original title of the text: “The Professor and the Rebel”
