Before Winter Comes

It's 1945 in Austria, and Niven is in charge of displaced persons. Topol, Niven's multilingual interpreter, turns out to be a Russian deserter and not the Slav he claims to be. When the time comes for Topol to be turned over to the Soviets, Hurt (in his third screen role--following WILD AND WILLING and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS) tries to prevent Niven from giving the intrepreter back to the Commies. Despite its noble attempt at delivering a message, BEFORE WINTER COMES has holes in its plot that are so so big that viewers might think a reel has been removed from the film. Karina is luminous as always, but doesn't have much to do. Topol does a smashing job, but he would...