One of my English professors taught that realism and naturalism in storytelling were very similar styles, representing a slice of life as one would cut a slice from an apple. In his opinion naturalism went a step more in the rebellion against romanticism to present a slice of life from the rotten side of the apple.
Snow Angels is definitely a film in the style of naturalism.
Kate Beckensale is an amazing young actress, and I’m certain that she really enjoyed doing this movie. It is the type of role that requires thought and preparation as well as talent, and she has all three in abundance.
In this story she plays Annie, a young mother who is stuck in the grim reality of a futureless job in a backwater town, separated from her complete loser of a husband, looking after her ill mother, with no hope (not to mention aspirations) of getting out and finding anything any better.
She is a good person, caring and concerned for her mother, her child and her co-workers, but she is having an affair with her best friend’s husband. Annie doesn’t love him, but seems to seek this entanglement because there is nothing else in her existance. Her estranged husband Glen (Sam Rockwell) is equally pathetic, with his alcohol and anger issues.
Worst of all he is stuck in a mindset that somehow he has all the answers for his family’s problems, not because he has thought about it and really made some intelligent plans, but they have been given to him by God.
Played against this dreadful duet of tragedy is the budding romance of Arthur () and Lila, two high school kids, geeky and awkward, but full of humor and hope. This only intensifies the feeling of rottenness the audience experiences seeing the lives of Annie and Glen, and points inevitably to the path of destruction that the other adults seem to be traveling in their relationships.
It is a very depressing movie. If you wish to be “tortured by art” it is a beautifully acted drama, with spectacular filming in terms of capturing the sense of the action in the locations and landscapes. The small town is grim and cold, frozen in grays and whites, seemingly caught in a perpetual winter.
The citizens of the place move through their world as if by habit rather than will, everyone just getting by, making do, surviving rather than living. The drama builds unbearably, with ominous undercurrents throughout and tragedy strikes, and the viewer watches, dragged in to the misery in almost the same way as being seduced into reading a shocking and descriptive newspaper article by the headline or a photo.
It is human vulturism at its best, all stopping to gawk at the accident. The pain is real on this rotten side of the apple, it happens, and everyone stops for a moment and then continues to move through the paces of the day. The back of the box speaks of “hope” but I saw very little to encourage that line of thought.
There might be a glimmer with Arthur and Lila, a moment when they will rise above their surroundings, or have the intelligence or drive to seek out more meaningful lives, but by the end of the film, it is hard to believe.
Snow Angels is presented on single disc with a choice of full or widescreen format. The running time is 107 minutes. Audio is in English or French (dubbed in Quebec) and subtitles are available in English, French or Spanish. This film is rated R, for sex, drugs and violent content, it should be rated “D” for depressing.
I’m giving it three and a half stars because of the excellent quality of the production and the wonderful work of all the actors. It is not a date movie, and don’t watch it if you are grieving the loss of someone or something….depression is not pretty.
Snow Angels is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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