Not as good as I was hoping

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2009)

This movie tells a moving story, and there is some beautiful photography in it, especially scenes of the forest in the winter. It didn't hold me, however, and I could live a very happy life without ever seeing it again.
Why? I think it needed a much better script, to begin with. I have no idea how this story could have been better structured, but it should have been structured. It shouldn't simply have wondered from incident to incident, as it did.
The major characters should also have been better developed, to get us more involved.
The violin solos were probably not a good idea. They kept reminding me of Schindler's List - as did various other things in this movie, in particular the closing script - and that does this movie no favors. Schindler's List, one of the most remarkable - not to mention most moving - movies I have ever seen (and seen and seen), is the masterpiece it is because it is well-structured, well-written, pretty much well-everything. This movie does itself no favors by evoking comparisons, as it falls way short in every respect.
In short, not a bad movie, but one that does not immortalize its subject matter, as for example Schindler's List most certainly does.