by Robert Bellissimo
If their was one word to capture the power of Winter Kept Us Warm, it would be “subtly”. As a result of that subtly, the audience is left guessing about the nature of the relationship between Doug (John Labow) and Peter (Henry Tarvainen), until it becomes obvious and when it does become obvious their relationship is put to a test.
The film is about two young men studying at the University of Toronto in the 1960s. They become good friends, but it seems as though something more than friendship is happening between the two of them. Director and co-writer, David Secter, handles all of this in the subtlest of ways. For example, when Doug meets Peter after a rehearsal Peter has in a theatre production, Doug finds Peter talking to his female co-star, Sandra (Janet Amos). It’s a 3 shot, which is where we see all 3 characters in the frame. If you look at Doug, he seems bothered by the fact that Peter is talking to this woman, like a jealous lover would. Secter doesn’t cut to a close-up, in order to let the audience know that Doug is clearly jealous. He stays with the 3 shot, which keeps the audience at enough of a distance, so that it seems as if very little is happening here, yet if you simply look at Doug’s face their is a lot going on.
In another scene, all of the guys are showering in the men’s locker room. At the end of this sequence you see Doug washing Peter’s back briefly before cutting away. Again Secter doesn’t go for a close-up or linger on this moment, which keeps the audience guessing. Are they just good friends or something more?
Doug and Peter feel as though they can tell each other anything. They show sides to each other that they keep private. They bring sides out of one another that they didn’t know they had. Doug has a girlfriend, Bev (Joy Fielding), who he doesn’t seem terribly interested in. Even she becomes suspicious about the nature of their relationship which, when confronted, infuriates Doug, even though deep down he knows it’s true.
All of these moments build to a climax, which puts the characters in a position where if they don’t come to terms with their relationship, and their sexuality, they will either come together or turn on one another.
This film is so simple, yet so good. It’s subtly is powerful.  It’s simplicity is poetic. “Winter Kept Us Warm” was Canada’s first English-language film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966. It is also a pioneering work of “LGBTQ + Cinema. It will be screening at Metrograph in New York City on June 21st, 22nd and 23rd. Showtime details are at the link below. The film was scanned and restored in 4K from the original 16mm A/B negatives by Canadian International Pictures.