Christmas in the snow
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Christmas in the snow |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2019 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Till Franzen |
| script |
Claudia Matschulla , Arnd Mayer |
| production | Heike Wiehle-Timm |
| music | Hannah von Hübbenet |
| camera | Timo Moritz |
| cut | Tatjana Schöps |
| occupation | |
| |
Christmas in the Snow is a German TV film by director Till Franzen from 2019. The Christmas film is based on a script by Claudia Matschulla and Arnd Mayer and is about the Johnen family from Hamburg , who come to Norway for the first time at the invitation of their parents - without knowing that they are keeping a secret from their children.
The production was realized by Relevant Film under the direction of Heike Wiehle-Timm on behalf of ZDF . The shooting took place from February to March 2019 in Hamburg and in Lillehammer , Norway . In addition to the main actress Katharina Schüttler , Ulrike Kriener , Rainer Bock , Inez Bjørg David , Anton Spieker and Janek Rieke appeared in front of the camera. When it was first broadcast in December 2019, the Christmas film met with a predominantly positive response from critics.
action
This time everything should be different. The Hamburg optician couple Gitta and Henri Johnen are planning to celebrate Christmas with the family for the first time far away from their home in Hamburg in a hut in snowy Norway . The holiday home and arrival are already booked and the three adult children Annika, Sanne and Bastian have been informed by email. These fell from the clouds in view of the short-term announcement that each of them actually had different plans for the holidays. After all, mother Gitta can get everyone to travel with her: she would like to spend Christmas in the snow and marvel at the northern lights . The fact that she and Henri are keeping a secret from their children should only become an issue after the joint party.
Familiar conflicts quickly break out in a confined space. After the bankruptcy of his café, the bon vivant Bastian tries to pump money into his parents and, after a series of failed business ideas, again provokes the displeasure of his sisters. The parents are also concerned about their daughter Sanne, who works as a doctor at the university hospital and is keeping a pregnancy a secret from her parents. Annika, who traveled with her husband Christoph and their 15-year-old son Simon, sees herself neglected by her mother and father. In doing so, they have their own problems: after years together, their marriage to Christoph is like a dead end. She is unsure whether she would like to follow him to Alaska for a new job .
Annika's doubts are heightened when she meets the local carpenter Morten, the nephew of her landlady Finja Lund, while shopping. The accountant and the former financial service provider get on well from the start and meet again and again more or less by chance. When Annika accidentally takes sleeping pills that night and overslept the family trip to Lillehammer , she encounters a horde of escaped horses and escapes to Morten's house, where the two sleep together for the first time. In the evening the perplexed Annika tries to talk to Gitta, but the situation between mother and daughter escalates again and Gitta collapses weakly in the living room in Henri's arms only shortly afterwards.
While Gitta is regaining his strength in the hospital, Henri is forced to confess to the children that she has incurable pancreatic cancer . The siblings react with shock to the diagnosis and the impending death of their mother, but decide to follow her wish and to organize the Christmas holidays as if they did not know anything about their illness. When Gitta is released from the clinic, they celebrate Christmas Eve together, but despite all efforts, she also realizes that everyone now knows about the disease. Meanwhile, Annika, who has made up with her mother in the meantime, confesses to Christoph her affair with Morten. He reacts hurt to her confession, but also notices to Annika's words that they have grown apart and are only standing in each other's way due to their different ideas about the future. The two travel back to Germany separately.
A year later, the family comes to Annika's home for Christmas together. Gitta has since succumbed to cancer and Bastian has taken over her position in her parents' glasses shop, which Henri had previously wanted to sell to a retail chain. Sanne has become a mother and has decided to give her relationship with her colleague Mark, the father of her child, a chance. Christoph moved to Alaska for the intended construction project and is spending the holidays overseas. When the doorbell rings again after the family has arrived, another guest announces itself: Morten, who was ordered to Hamburg by Sanne, Bastian and Finja, is on the threshold to Annika's surprise. They kiss.
background
The tragicomic Christmas film was made by Relevant Film Produktion on behalf of ZDF . Heike Wiehle-Timm acted as the producer, while Berit Teschner was responsible for editing on ZDF. Till Franzen , who cast his wife Katharina Schüttler in the leading role of Annika, could be engaged for the direction . For the couple, Christmas in the snow was the third time they worked together. The shooting for Christmas in the Snow took place from February 21 to March 25, 2019 mainly in Hamburg and in the Norwegian province of Oppland . In Lillehammer emerged as among other scenes in the pedestrian precinct Storgata and at the Garmo- stave church in Maihaugen - open-air museum . Actress Inez Bjørg David described the snowy filming as "chaotic and familiar".
The music for the film was provided by composer Hannah von Hübbenet . The Christmas carols that can be heard during the course of the film include "Christmas Lights" by Coldplay , "You and Me at Christmas" by Why Don't We, "25th December" by Everything but the Girl and Sinéad O ' Connor's interpretation of " Silent Night ". In addition, the Norwegian pop singer Wencke Myhre recorded "Glade jul", the Norwegian version of "Silent Night", as well as one of her own Christmas carols from the 1990s for the film. She can be seen in the supporting role of Finja Lund in Christmas in the Snow , the Johnen family rents out their hut.
Reviews
Quota meter critic Julian Miller found that the fictional film had "probably become the most depressing Christmas film in a long time" due to "a constant, at least latent, emotional severity [...]." Nevertheless, the production succeeds "at the end of the day with a confident look to the future that is imperative for the umbrella brand". It is "unusual that it becomes so wistful and melancholy on ZDF on Sunday evening, so pleasantly quiet and serious, and so far removed from any emotional override or overly calculated identification points. But that's exactly how a pleasantly reserved, emotionally concise and pleasantly contemplative Christmas film was created ”.
Rainer Tittelbach described Christmas in the snow in his review on Tittelbach.tv as a “ heart cinema that deserves the name”. Imagery and music are “not trimmed too much for pleasant comfort. The Nordic-wintry ambience here has at best a subtle nostalgic feelgood function, and for a long time a realistic camera view of things even dominates [...] Some may dismiss this as pseudo-philosophical kitsch, but the family constellation with the three is so psychologically well thought out adult children and just as the messages are presented here by Ulrike Kriener, Rainer Bock, Inez Bjorg David, Anton Spieker and the incomparable Katharina Schüttler - always with a slightly ironic wink - that is well-tempered entertainment television ".
Hans Czerny of the TV magazine Prisma called Christmas in the snow "a heart cinema with many stars and Norwegian sweaters". The film, “which should actually be called Christmas in Norway , tries very hard to limit the usual sentimentalities despite all the cliché ingredients. In any case, you can tell the joy of this tragic-comic nativity scene in the top-class family ensemble ”. The editorial team of TV Spielfilm summed up that the production “mostly restrained despite the tragedy”. Until the viewer learns the background to the plot, "the drama with the usual family quarrel [...] dragged on without showing any real direction".
publication
Christmas in the Snow was published for streaming on December 1, 2019 in the ZDFmediathek . The free TV premiere followed on December 15, 2019 on ZDF. With 5.28 million viewers and a 15.3 percent market share, the feature film advanced to the second most- watched format in prime time on that day after Tatort: Angel of Death .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Christmas in the snow, TV film . In: Crew United . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ↑ Start of shooting for "Christmas in the Snow" . In: Presseportal.de . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d press kit: Christmas in the snow . In: zdf.de . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ^ A b Julian Miller: The Critics: "Christmas in the Snow" . Oddsmeter.de . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ^ Rainer Tittelbach: TV film "Christmas in the Snow" . Tittelbach.tv . Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Hans Czerny: TV critic . Prism . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ↑ Christmas in the snow . TV feature film . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ↑ a b press kit . ZDF . Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ↑ Fabian Riedner: Primetime check: Sunday, December 15, 2019 . Odds Meter .de. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.