Having grown up in Europe and the US, Nossiter
no doubt picked up a substantial knowledge of wine
and movies to boot.
Nossiter,
whose documentary debut Resident Alien
screened in the 1991 Panorama, has followed up his Sundance
1997 Grand Jury Prize winner Sunday with
this year's Berlin competition contender Signs
And Wonders.
Alec
Fenton (Stellan Skarsgård) shares a unique but
extremely close relationship with his daughter, Siri,
based on their own peculiar way of seeing the world
as filled with signs and rules that serve as portents
and premonitions.
Alec,
however, apparently fails to recognise a good deal of
them as he becomes involved in an extramarital affair
that eventually ends in disaster. In the meantime, his
wife, Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling), has taken up with
a Greek journalist who exerts a lasting impression on
her, the kids and, ultimately, Alec himself.
The
signs are all there, but so, thankfully, are the wonders
of life.
Jeffrey
R. Sipe
by
Jonathan
Nossiter