Winter Kills (DVD, 2003)

Winter Kills is a callous title - more from the jargon of hunters than conspiracy theorists. But, it perfectly describes the detached and cold-blooded modus operandi of the stories' protagonists. The film is hard; a loss of innocence for the main character, played by Jeff Bridges. But, he is a metaphor for the majority of us who are coming to terms with the reality that the world created by God is temporarily run amok - controlled and manipulated by madmen and madwomen - international financiers, global corporations, governments bought and sold to the highest bidder and all those who serve and are slaves to them and the ultimate evil - the love of money. The plot is a difficult amalgamation of various theories concerning the assassination of a U.S. president - presented through the eyes of the younger brother of the slain leader - a young, sensitive and innocent son of one the world's elite capitalists, played by John Huston. Particularly troubling is the dark, voyeuristic technocrat, played by Anthony Perkins, who controls an empire of machines with the sole purpose of gathering, storing and using information to achieve the sordid and evil goals of his employer. It will probably take more than one viewing (and listening) to capture all the strands of this web of deceit and darkness. What I liked about it most was that it presents what could be an extremely confusing mass of veiled truths as fiction with a sense of humor. The comedy is grey rather than dark, for the most part, and this makes the subject matter palatable. A stellar cast and crew persevered amid attempts to quash the project - the extras disk tells the tale of a truth is stranger than fiction film-making event. The script, acting, cinematography, music - the entire production is professionally impeccable and, to coin a phrase, ahead of its time. Bought it because it makes another attempt at revealing to the public what might have happened so many years ago in our country when a shadow government struck down a popular leader who dared to think of serving the people instead of those who paid his way into office.