WINTER SLEEPERS takes place in Germany's mountainous Berchtesgaden region. The connections between its characters--translator Rebecca (Floriane Daniel), nurse Laura (Marie-Lou Sellem), ski instructor Marco (Heino Ferch), and projectionist Rene (Ulrich Matthes)--are unclear until the day Rene passes Laura's villa. Rene looks inside and sees Rebecca, who lives with Laura, making love with Marco. On a whim, Rene drives off in Marco's car, only to crash into a van driven by local farmer Theo (Josef Bierbichler). The car ends up covered in snow down an incline. Theo's daughter Maria (Sofia Dirscheri) is injured. After taking photographs of the accident, Rene stumbles away. Maria is rushed to hospital and has an operation, at which Laura assists. As in his hyperkinetic RUN LOLA RUN, director Tom Tykwer shows the deeper possibilities of seemingly random encounters.

At the hospital, Laura worries about Maria; out of it, she takes up with Rene. Rene suffers from short-term memory loss. Rebecca, who is always dressed in red, is unhappy with Marco. Marco hunts for his stolen car. And Theo can't convince anyone that another car was involved in the accident. Gradually, events spiral out of control. The pace in WINTER SLEEPERS is stately, but the movie is full of sweeping bravura camera movements cut to Tykwer's own musical score.

Originally released theatrically in the US on March 17, 2000 (NY).

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Ulrich Matthes: Actor
Marie-Lou Sellem: Actress
Floriane Daniel: Actress
Heino Ferch: Star, HUNT FOR JUSTICE (2006)
Josef Bierbichler: German Actor
Sofia Dirscheri: Actress, WINTER SLEEPERSM (1997)
Laura Maori Tonke: Actress

Tom Tykwer: Bavaria

Stefan Arndt: Producer

Anne-Francoise Pyszora: Writer
Tom Tykwer: Bavaria

Reinhold Heil: Composer
Johnny Klimek: Composer
Tom Tykwer: Bavaria

Katja Dringenberg: Editor

"...Stylish....Twyker's own rhythmic music enhances the widescreen images..."
"...A slowly spinning psychological thriller..." -- Rating: B+ - EW Recommends
"...[A] gorgeously photographed film....[With] breathtaking moments in which sounds and images synergize with an explosive precision..."
"...Artful....[With] subtle and startling patterns..."