I really liked director Joan Micklin Silver’s Between The Lines, how much of a hang out movie it was, about a staff at a street press soon to be acquired by a corporate publisher. Silver’s next film, Chilly Scenes Of Winter (1979), is also a hang out film, except you are stuck with Charles (John Heard, who also starred in Between The Lines) and his obsession over a break up. Set in Utah during the snow-strewn winter, Charles is a civil servant pining for his relationship with Laura (Mary Beth Hurt); they met at work and started dating while she was separated from her husband. Charles narrates the movie, taking us inside the thoughts in his head during the opening scenes, and eventually talking directly to the camera; we then see the couple’s history together unfold in flashback. As we see Charles and Laura become involved, I started to fall in love with their chemistry and pine for their relationship too as Charles mopes around, walking around in the snow, driving at night to the house that she shares with her husband, just to watch the lights go out (okay, now it’s getting creepy). Later, there’s a sobering piece of info that gets dropped; the relationship only lasted two months, which Charles has spent a year afterwards thinking about and longing for.
While there’s plenty of indie movies about guys getting over break-ups (High Fidelity, 500 Days Of Summer), Chilly Scenes Of Winter prefigures them and also has a better handle on the type of guy Charles is. It’s a testament to the source material (Ann Beattie’s novel), and Silver’s direction that mines an oddball, occasionally dark sense of humour, presenting Charles warts and all – his possessiveness, and his manic qualities coming more to the foreground as the film goes on, toxic traits both during the relationship and afterwards. But like a lot of 1970s movies, it also feels non-judgemental or not quick to clearly moralise. It’s a very tricky tone: there’s a lightness and a bouncy air about the film, even as its observations are depressing and hard at heart, particularly when Charles crosses the line with the awful things he says and his increasingly concerning actions. Heard is really great in the lead role: there’s a compelling quality about him even when he is becoming unhinged and just plain wrong, and he is matched by Hurt who indicates the complexity of her own character even through the flashbacks that are from Charles’ perspective. There’s great support from the charming, funny Peter Riegert as Heard’s unemployed, alcoholic friend who starts living at his house; and then there’s classic Hollywood film noir star Gloria Grahame as Charles’ mother, providing some insight into his own problems with her attention-seeking, depressive episodes; and Kenneth McMillan as Charles’ step-dad who tries to be ingratiating even though Charles and his sister are very distant towards him. Produced by Amy Robinson, Griffin Dunne (who also has a small part), and Mark Metcalf (who plays the husband), and Ken Lauber provides the warm, jazzy score. Released on the Criterion Collection but there’s a copy uploaded onto YouTube. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 