AndersonVision Best TV of 2017: #25 – THE SNOWMAN (Universal)
THE SNOWMAN MIGHT BE THE GREATEST FILM OF THIS DECADE
“The Snowman” will be gone from theaters by the time I write this. The jokes from cackling Coastal Elitists thinking they are above mainstream cinema will have died off. Snowflakes in the air and salty tears over The Last Jedi will fill the sore eyes as 2017 comes to an end. What does this all mean? Well, it means what I’ve been telling you people since 2004. Film criticism is the domain of shut-ins and morons who’ve yet to have their A-HA! moment.
What “The Snowman” manages to do is speak to where American cinema is at this moment. “The Snowman” and the disappointing “Downsizing” were American films both sent to Norway to reap state government tax breaks. As such, it forces its American/British sensibilities onto a Scandinavian story that doesn’t lend itself to Fassbender wandering about with a sour puss face. A bad film would’ve tried to stave that off and tried to tell a story. “The Snowman” aggressively forces your good graces into a meat grinder. But, what does that mean?
THE MAGIC BEHIND RELEASING THIS FILM
When you drop a film that destroys expectations, the Western world automatically attacks you. Was Val Kilmer dubbed and what did Martin Scorsese have to do with the movie took the place of critical looks at the film. Then, the backstage drama started about botched edits and whether or not the creatives knew what they wanted to do. So much of this is press control, as a means of saving a movie. Yet, it keeps the average moviegoer from sitting in a dying movie theater to check it out.
If the film would’ve debuted on Netflix, film fans would be recommending it to randoms on Twitter for weeks after its release. But, that’s not what film goers do anymore. They wait for later. If they can’t afford it, they pirate it. If they have a problem with the talent, they pirate it. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter. Whatever means available will either shove films that don’t fit their narrow view or they’ll invite it in for mockery.
When you read other reviews of The Snowman, it tries to frame the characters into popular archetypes. There is also a ton of faux praise for Rebecca Ferguson’s character. They always have to work in a shot at girl power in the modern era. But, what they forget is the nature of the film and how the production’s awkward execution only aided the bizarre construct of this mystery.
It’s an American movie pretending to be a foreign film about American people pretending to be foreign people solving a crime that no one understands. That is some next-level stuff. Honestly, this might be the first mystery film that had no interest in actually solving its mystery. “The Snowman” is meta to the point of being obnoxious and I love the film for that.
FILM STATS
- R
- 1 hr and 59 mins
- Universal