The taste of snow
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The taste of snow |
| Original title | Snow Cake |
| Country of production | UK , Canada |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Marc Evans |
| script | Angela Pell |
| production |
Gina Carter Jessica Daniel Andrew Eaton Niv Fichman |
| music | Broken Social Scene |
| camera | Steve Cosens |
| cut | Mags Arnold |
| occupation | |
| |
The Taste of Snow (Original title: Snow Cake ) is a film by the British director Marc Evans from 2005. The drama is based on an original screenplay by Angela Pell and was produced by the film studios Revolution Films and Rhombus Media. The film opened the Berlinale on February 9, 2006 . It was released in German cinemas on November 2, 2006.
action
Englishman Alex Hughes, who lives in Ontario, is driving to northern Canada. In a rest stop, a young woman sits down at his table, who pushes herself quite obtrusively on him and asks him for a lift. Vivienne, who visited her grandparents, is on her way back to her mother Linda. Finally Alex gives in, and Vivienne manages to thaw the buttoned and icily repellent Alex a little while driving. When the two of them listen to music together and laugh together, a truck rams the car, which overturns. Vivienne dies immediately, while Alex remains unharmed, but reacts as if in a trance, apparently severely traumatized. At the police station he insists on delivering the news of Vivienne's death to his mother himself.
Linda, who lives alone in a house in a small settlement, takes the news in an irritatingly calm manner, to Alex's dismay. Little by little he realizes that Linda is "different". He learns from her neighbor Maggie that she is autistic . Linda asks Alex spontaneously to move in with her, because she needs someone who can do Vivienne's tasks in her life, in this case to bring out the garbage bags in three days, which she definitely won't touch. Alex promises to stay with her until that date. He accompanies her to the funeral inspection, organizes the funeral and during this time he gets to know the compulsive life of autistic women, but also their joy in movement, music and their lust for snow. Residents of the city and neighbors watch the situation in amazement or alienation, especially since Linda brusquely and unequivocally rejects offers of help from her neighbors. When Alex finds the truck driver in front of Linda's house, who wants to apologize to Vivienne's mother with a bouquet of flowers, he loses his composure and attacks the man in a fit of rage, but breaks off at the last moment and flees.
Alex gets into conversation with Linda's neighbor Maggie, who is also interested in cop Clyde. Clyde sees a rival in Alex and gets information about the stranger. Maggie invites Alex to dinner and makes him a sexual offer quite openly. Alex thinks she is a prostitute and spends the night with her. When he tries to pay her the next morning, she laughs at him and explains that she likes him and that she just enjoys sexual adventures. Clyde found out that Alex was in jail for manslaughter and has only been free a few days. He notifies Maggie of this. Maggie is surprised, but keeps in touch with Alex, who likes her more and more. She too wants to know more about him, but does not confront him with the dark past.
The day of the funeral has come, the neighbors gather in the church, which is decorated with all sorts of glittering glitter that Linda loves so much. The truck driver has also come. Alex walks towards him and the two shake hands. After the funeral, the neighbors gather in Linda's house, which puts Linda in stress. She dances and sings, to which the neighbors react with indignation and without understanding.
After the funeral, Alex wants to continue his journey. He says goodbye to Linda and tells her that she can find a present from him in her freezer. He also says goodbye to Maggie. He confides in her and talks about his son, who came from a brief affair and whom he has never seen. It was only after many years that he found out about the son's existence and they arranged to meet, but his son never got there. He was killed in a traffic accident on the way to see Alex, his father. Thereupon Alex found out the address of the guilty driver, looked him up and beat him so that the man fell to the ground and was fatally injured.
Maggie now confesses to Alex that she already knew this, but she would not have told him because she wanted him to tell her himself. Alex ponders aloud whether to buy a house here and stay close to her, but realizes from her reaction that Maggie was content to have an easy and brief affair with him. So he sets off for the original destination of his journey, the mother of his son. And since the garbage truck is late, Linda's annoyance is that he cannot keep his promise to dispose of the garbage bags. But Maggie, the neighbor, who will keep an eye on Linda in the future, takes on this task, uninvited and without a word.
Linda opens the freezer and finds the present that Alex has announced for her, a snow cake , a perfect cake made of snow.
synchronization
The German dubbing was based on a dialogue book by Michael Schlimgen and directed by Susanna Bonaséwicz on behalf of Neue Tonfilm München.
| Actress | role | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Rickman | Alex | Michael Telloke |
| Sigourney Weaver | Linda | Karin Buchholz |
| Carrie-Anne Moss | Maggie | Martina Treger |
| Emily Hampshire | Vivienne | Julia Kaufmann |
| James Allodi | Clyde | Bernd Vollbrecht |
| Selina Cadell | Diane Wooton | Heidi Weigelt |
| David Fox | Dirk Freeman | Michael Narloch |
| Jayne Eastwood | Ellen Freeman | Christel Merian |
| Julie Stewart | Florence | Christin Marquitan |
| Dov Tiefenbach | Optician Jack | Julien Haggége |
| Callum Keith Rennie | John Neil | Erich Rauker |
Reviews
The press reactions to the film, especially in the English-language press, were mixed. At Rotten Tomatoes , the film achieved a 65% critics rate. Tobias Kniebe from the Süddeutsche Zeitung called the opening film of the Berlinale a “sugar-coated snow cake”. Snow Cake shows a "lovable quirky autism", a disease that was probably invented especially for the opening films of the Berlinale.
Julian Hanich, the film critic of the Tagesspiegel , praised the acting performance of Alan Rickman. The verdict on Sigourney Weaver is different. She works as a “talkative autistic woman”, always with a half-open mouth and waving arms, like a being out of this world. The sight of them brings the dubious pleasure of what psychologists call "vicarious shame". "There are now two actors facing each other whose performances couldn't be more different."
Daniel Haas, on the other hand, describes the film in spiegel.de as “first-class soul food - and a heartwarming plea for tragicomics” and praises Weaver's performance: “Seldom has an actress been seen dealing with the role of the disabled in such a differentiated manner. The part of the mentally or mentally ill can quickly seduce a star into acting muscle play. See how present I am to embody the other, the foreign. Weaver, on the other hand, accentuates the comic side of the figure, turning her into that unique woman whose illness is not only a limitation but also a gift. "
The lexicon of international films describes the film as "[l] ice, touching drama that deals with repressions and emotional wounds, although some of the turns of the plot, which is largely told about images and moods, seem too abrupt and constructed."
Axel Brauns , who himself wrote a book about his autistic childhood, says about the film: “It's a good script, it's authentic. It probably doesn't come from an autistic person because the story is told from the outside, not from the inside. But the author Angela Pell knows much more about autism than one could acquire through research. I later learn that Angela Pell has an autistic son. [...] This story is lived and suffered. It is especially charming in the unspectacular details ”.
The Wiesbaden Film Assessment Office gave the film the rating of “Particularly Valuable”. The reasoning in the FBW report states, among other things: “The film captivates with a sensational ensemble of actors, and it tells a credible story in which the viewer becomes aware of the smallest facial play, looks, gestures and postures. Small and very everyday, but big and deeply human, this soul film corresponds with the magnificent natural backdrop. The images of faces and landscapes are impressive, the soundtrack soulful. This is a film that cinema-goers will leave pleasantly thoughtful but not resigned and well entertained. "
Awards
- In 2007, Carrie-Anne Moss won Best Supporting Actress at the Genie Awards . There were also three nominations.
Web links
- Snow Cake in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Film review on filmstarts.de
- Trailer on kino-zeit.de
supporting documents
- ↑ Entry Snow Cake on rottentomatoes.com , accessed on February 22, 2017.
- ↑ Tobias Kniebe: Sugar-coated snow cake. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2010, accessed on February 22, 2017.
- ↑ Julian Hanich: Snow Cake, criticism. ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 2, 2006, accessed on February 22, 2017.
- ↑ Daniel Haas: Snow that falls on moaning. In: spiegel.de , February 10, 2006, accessed on February 22, 2017.
- ↑ The taste of snow. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Axel Brauns: Snow Cake is a believable film. In: Berliner Morgenpost , November 2, 2006, accessed on February 22, 2017.
- ↑ Entry Snow Cake (jury rating) on fbw.filmb Bewertung.com , accessed on April 10, 2018.
