CANADIAN DIRECTOR COMES IN FROM COLD.

``The Sweet Hereafter'' could be award-winning director Atom Egoyan's breakthrough to the wider audience that has so far eluded him. It says something about his work that a movie built around a bunch of dead schoolchildren marks a move toward the mainstream.

Born in Egypt's Armenian exile community, the Canada-raised Egoyan has written and directed a series of obsessive, hypnotic features - ``Family Viewing,'' ``Speaking Parts,'' ``The Adjuster,'' ``Exotica'' - that examine frayed family ties and the psychology of voyeurism.

Based on Russell Banks' novel, ``Hereafter'' deals with the after-effects of a school-bus accident on the small town of Sam Dent, British Columbia. Essentially shellshocked by the tragedy, the grieving parents are stirred up when a big city lawyer, played with a mixture of shrewd manipulation and impacted fury by the English actor Ian Holm, arrives to organize them into a class action suit against ... well, somebody must be responsible for the awful loss.

More straightforward than the films he's written from scratch, ``Hereafter'' offered Egoyan a fresh perspective on ideas he felt he had tapped out.

``I was feeling that the very thing that made my films surprising was almost becoming a pattern,'' Egoyan says. ``I'm very proud of those early films, but there were people who never knew quite how to connect to them who have been really emotionally affected by this one. And I do feel I've used the same language of my other films, which addresses our position as a viewer: It makes us aware that we're watching images and makes us define our own need to see a story.''

Egoyan was intrigued by Banks' rich characters.

``Russell Banks defined this community of people that I never would have bothered to look at if he hadn't presented them to me in such a vivid and caring way,'' says Egoyan, who had a free hand in writing ``Hereafter's'' screenplay but actively sought Banks' approval throughout the writing process. ``In many of my films, I think people were just living roles, living as figures and trying to get by with that. With this film, for the first time, I think the characters inhabit their space quite comfortably and are really quite full.

``They're confident of why and who they are; but that doesn't make them any more prepared to deal with this grief that they have to confront.'' Egoyan - who has a young son with his wife and frequent collaborator, actress Arsinee Khanjian - admits that he can't prepare for some viewers' reactions to ``The Sweet Hereafter.''

``Though we optioned the book before our son came along, now I'm realizing that, yes, it can seem like a very strange film for somebody who's just had a child to make,'' Egoyan admits. ``I've already had to deal with people who come to me who have been in that situation themselves. I don't know how to respond - it's very difficult for me to be put in that role. It's the worst nightmare of any parent, of course; and I've conjured it.''

The quiet, contemplative Canadian points out that ``The Sweet Hereafter'' is very much about responsible answers to agonizing questions.

``To what extent can we be honest and accept responsibility for actions that we take?'' he asks. ``Actions as a parent, actions as someone who represents themselves as having answers, actions that have to do with our own grief ... You know, when someone comes with lots of answers, there's a tendency to want to believe that. Because we all seek solace.''

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Photo: Director Atom Egoyan built ``The Sweet Hereafter'' around a parent's worst fear: losing a child.