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A Masterpiece!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Although everything in the plot is very easy to understand, everything is explained and self-explainable, it is still hard to say what it all is about, but this is the asset of this film. The plot is taking place in a posh, expensive Swiss ski resort, which, of course, implies the other side of the coin: the everyday life of actual inhabitants of the little settlement, who live in a boring building beneath the mountain. The story starts right away with Simon, 12 year old boy, premature for his age, who steals the expensive equipment whereas finds it unattended, and resells it for cheap money to anyone interested, so that he can support himself and his problematic older sister, who keeps changing men and cannot keep the job. Although the plot takes place in Switzerland, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, where even poor or unemployed people live relatively well, it is still interesting that there are many people ready to buy apparently stolen goods if they see an opportunity to make or save money.This is not really a social drama, because we cannot see financial or bureaucratic reasons for Simon and his sister to live such a delinquent life. On contrary, it seems there are much easier ways for both of them to make the money, than to sell stolen goods.. However, living such an illegal life seems to be a mode they both accepted in order to prove something to each other or to punish themselves , or challenge the traumas of their lives, which will be revealed in the second half of the film. The film is slowly and almost invisibly developing into the resolving narrative mode, so its definitely not boring to watch. The social dimension of the film is, hence, not about the finances or material issues. Its more about the alienation among humans and ignorance towards the children, which simply does not even reflect the social status. The little Simon is passing by completely unnoticed for most of the time, wandering around the posh ski terrains, cafes, restaurants, because nobody really cares for children, nobody bothers to pay attention to the other human being. Most of the people, both guests and workers, are just visitors, in passing by, nobody cares to check up on him, or call authorities or anything. Simon is not the only child there who often wonders completely unattended. The appearance of the rich English woman, with a proper family, is more like a dream for Simon, like a proper mother he has never had, but she is not real for him, either, and the illusion is just the illusion. The acting of both leads is interesting. Film shows the development of the Simon from the boy who is a victim, and who steals to buy food, to a little criminal who at certain point simply can't resist stealing, although he does not have the immediate need for that, towards the end of the film. As for the Lea Seydoux, who plays the "sister", the role that will stay little mysterious almost till the very end, somebody has written here already that she is simply too pretty, or too young, or fragile to fit this story. I disagree with that, on contrary, the row instinct is often hidden within the fragility and prettiness, and her acting is all contained in her face which is at the same time beautiful like a doll's face and wild and cruel to the unthinkable measures. In a word, both actors deserve a praise, together with director.

Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) is a thief stealing from the foreigners at the ski resort. He lives with his aimless irresponsible sister Louise (Léa Seydoux). She's left yet another job and has questionable relationships. He gets caught by resort worker Mike (Martin Compston) but instead he starts selling the stolen skis to him. He takes bigger and bigger risks. He's an expert liar. He befriends resort patron Kristin Jansen (Gillian Anderson) pretending to be a rich kid.It's a pretty good performance from Kacey of a ballsy character. It does need to amp up the danger for the boy. While the reveal is great, it doesn't really raise the danger. Maybe if they could add a thug looking for money or children services looking to take Simon away. Also it would be great to dig deeper into Louise's problems. Overall this is a little bit disturbing but needs to raise the tension much higher.

Ursula Meier's "Sister" is not an easy film. A boy, Simon, survives in the fringe of a mountain –and of society-, stealing from the visitors of a skiing resort. His only companion, quite unreliable, is an older sister, Louise, whose ups and downs force Simon to act way above is age. We don't know anything about how they ended up in this situation, though at midpoint of the film we'll learn the truth of their relationship. The background and the weather are as cold and unpleasant as the relationships portrayed, while the deadpan style of the film makes not a single concession to sentimentalism. Under these premises, Meier has built a forthright movie full of subtleties: not an easy film, but utterly rewarding.Other reviewers here have already pointed out the duality of this high/low setting, brilliantly used by Meier. It mirrors the class distinction, of course, and their respective environments: the white, unspoiled snow on top of the mountain for those with money, against the melted mud on the hillside where the underprivileged survive. Simon, however, doesn't look for the wealth of the mountaintop. Surely, he strives for an improvement in his life, but his stealing is merely practical –he needs to buy food, toilet paper-. No, what Simon yearns for is tenderness, for a caring mother, for a life in which (the lack of) money doesn't spoil relationships. Downtown, Simon has to be on permanent watch out; up in the resort, he can still pretend to be a kid.This fight against loneliness drives both siblings. What Louise cannot find in Simon, she looks for in random boyfriends. What Simon cannot get from Louise, he tries to get from a woman he stalks at the resort. However, those relationships are built upon lies that hurt each other, driving them further apart.Needless to say, Simon won't fare well; eventually, his pretense falls when the woman he wants as a mother finds him cleaning her cabin: Simon can't any longer hope to be her son if he is just a chalet bellboy. To make things worst, he's caught stealing the woman's wristwatch. Was his stealing a betrayal, a payback for her rejection? Or was he taking a souvenir, a keepsake of the mother he lacks? It comes to my mind a little essay by Jean Genet, "L'Enfant criminel" where the author points out the symbolic value of the crime's object in the mind of the young criminal. It is not surprising, therefore, that the watch he has stolen is found on his crotch. Still following Genet, what turns someone into a thief is not the act of stealing, but the word "thief" directed at him. The word, the injury, is what creates the separation from society, a separation that will lead to the development of a criminal moral and the eventual transformation into a thief. Simon struggles to elude this process, while at the same time is doomed to it.At the end of the film Simon returns downtown, accepting the place where he belongs. There's no other possible direction for him: once that the snow melts at the resort, there's no tenderness to be found there. Probably, as one character says, Simon will steal bikes through the summer. Nothing has really changed for him; he'll keep surviving at the margins of society. But, in this hopeless ending, there's the hopeful note too. Simon is going down, yes, hanging inside a cable car, when he crosses another cable car that goes up. His "sister", obviously worried, calls for him. These siblings, after all, do care for each other, and that's something that the lack of money cannot change. They are not alone.

In Sister, a boy helps he and his sister survive by stealing from rich folks at a posh ski resort in the Swiss Alps. But the boy and his sister are both a bit more than each seems in this provocative psychological, daring thriller from Ursula Meier.Young Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) has procured a season pass to a winter ski lodge. Each day, he rides up the giant lifts to the top of the mountain, where he swipes skis, poles, boots, gloves, and other paraphernalia, selling them to the less-fortunate in the town below. He does this to support he and his sister Louise (Lea Seydoux), an unfocused, somewhat-selfish wanderer who appears too have little concern for the well being of herself or for Simon, flitting from job to job and from lover to lover like a forlorn mosquito. So it's entirely up to Simon to keep them afloat, and he's a quick learner. Even at age 12, he can cook and clean and knows ski equipment better than even expert skiers, even though he is no skier himself. He's an entrepreneur, albeit in a dangerous career.He sells to workers. He sells to kids. He takes advance orders and knows how much to charge. He's not intimidated by anyone. He is, at his tender age, a master thief, knowing where to stow his ill-gotten gains and how best to get them back down the mountain. One can argue that he does what he has to do, since his youth prevents him from getting an authentic job and the adult in the family is wildly undependable. He takes on an apprentice at one point, goes into cahoots with another at a different juncture. But a few of his schemes do not end favorably for him. Simon is friendless, utterly alone. But his relationship with Louise is quite complicated. There are tender touches. Inappropriate remarks. Lingering glances. Is this simply typical preteen behavior, or something more? With no other friends - and apparently, no school to serve as a social function - Louise is about the only female with whom he interacts on a regular basis.He meets a visiting family - mom, two boys - at the resort. Mom is kind and buys Simon breakfast, even though he is loaded with cash. They bond a little; she seeing perhaps a lost soul whose story of no parents or siblings isn't ringing true, he seeing a mother figure he desperately desires.The twist in the movie makes its appearance just about halfway through. It's surprising that it arrives so early, and when it does it passes two crucial tests: it is both out of the blue and completely plausible. The perfect twist. Obviously, the twist coming so early in the film means that the movie's real enticement comes in this major revelation - well, a revelation to the audience, not to the characters. At first, we're not sure who is telling the truth; are we being snookered? When we discover the answer to that question, the relationship between Louise and Simon takes on a whole new dimension.Both Klein and Seydoux, playing characters who are almost aggressively opposite from one another, are phenomenal. Simon longs for a better life even as he excels in his current role. Louise, a tragic heroine, is mentally scarred, unsure, unhappy, and besieged by doubt. She seems of no use to him, and yet he pushes hard to make a life for them both.The ending is one of those that will leave half of the audience wondering if a reel was left off by mistake and the other half nodding appreciatively. It is not a neat ending; it is awash with symbolism of the direction each lead's life is headed. And set against the majestic beauty of the mountains, it is a strong, stark, and beautiful finale.