Word: polley
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...community once again. The parents respond with combinations of anger and resignation, alternately praising and condemning Stevens for his intrusion into their close-knit community. Of those involved in the crash, only two remain: the simple-minded bus driver Dolores Driscoll (Gabrielle Rose) and local teenager Nicole Burnett (Sarah Polley). The rest, including Billy Ansell (Bruce Greenwood), who witnessed his children's death, stand powerless in the face of the tragedy...
...other character prepared to take extreme measures is the only child to survive the crash, Nicole Burnett. She is Stevens' equal, both in character intensity and strength as an actor. As the sullen survivor Nicole, Sarah Polley gives a mesmerizing performance, confined to a wheelchair and unwilling to participate in Stevens' act of retribution. Her story is echoed in Robert Browning's poem, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," which she tells in flashback to the children she baby-sits. Browning's poem provides a recurring metaphor for the film--one not limited to the simple comparison between the children...
...Polley provides the central source of energy in The Sweet Hereafter as the only character not resigned to accept her fate as the sole object of pity in the town. She acts as a balance to Egoyan's chilly sensibility, which keeps the film from descending into pathos but also makes it difficult for the viewer to fully empathize with most of the characters...
...surprisingly, Polley's character is the only one featured outside the context of the icy Canadian winter. Everything about the film suggests barrenness. Even the entire color scheme is drab. Although it adds to the effectiveness of the imagery and remains consistent with the film's tone, this tactic further distances the viewer. Egoyan's choices are artistically correct, but often emotionally risky...
...Sweet Hereafter is certainly wellcrafted, and contains outstanding performances by Holm and Polley. But Egoyan sacrifices an emotional relation to the material in favor of an icy and remote perfection...