Snowman's Land

I saw 'Snowman's Land' at La Mostra Valencia film festival in 2010 and was struck by the black humour of the film, the atmospheric imagery, the quirky soundtrack and the tight plotting. Great acting by the anti-hero too! The film is mostly set in an mysterious and dangerous location (a forest in winter) hundreds of miles east of Germany. This isolated and haunted place creates an on-going tension, enhances the plot and emphasizes the struggle of the characters who have to use their wits to survive each day. A memorable, dark and entertaining film. I look forward to seeing more from this director in the future.

Will McCarthy

This movie is not very typical of German (dark) comedies -- it's intelligently written and well thought out. The actors do a great job of making situations which could easily fall flat very enjoyable to watch and the dialogue is strong.

It is easy to root for and sympathize with the main character, even when his actions are questionable; the actor does a great job of pulling off the role. The movie is quiet and reserved, there is no slapstick or cheesy dialogue to keep things moving. It remains suspenseful, however, until the end. Definitely worth seeing if you enjoy untraditional comedies.

Snowman's Land is a superb exercise in suspense. While the story is character driven and remains absurdly plausible until the end, Snowman's Land is in no way predictable. Walter, a sub-par hit man, is summoned to a remote mountain lodge to work for a crime boss who had disappeared from the scene several years before. Walter's colleague and fellow hit man turns out to be an old acquaintance, Mickey, who has his own history of botched jobs and brushes with death. The action is a sustained, deliberate adrenaline rush that eschews the cut-happy editing blitz of most dark comedies about the criminal underworld. Snowman's Land makes full use of the ecosystem at hand and it seems like the celluloid itself is covered in a fresh dusting of snow.

This "thriller" has a wandering yet fittingly weird plot, but the film sets the role of acting (and the lines actors are given to work with) into unusually high relief. A laconic loser whose expression almost never changes (with perfectly greasy hair) is coupled with a younger, fun-loving guy very much NOT of the overdone stoner-dude type that populates so many American movies. It takes a lot to worry this childlike "man," and the actor is possessed of a sweet, rubbery face of infinite expressiveness that makes the story a true joy to watch. For example, the transformations that flicker across his increasingly lustful countenance as a hot babe talks about sex are a wonder -- this is method acting at its most delightful. He's got a metal plate in his head that makes it bullet-resistant, which could have been cartoonish, but is somehow just right for his character. He's a 33-year-old (my guess) who never left junior high. His companion pulls his weight in the other direction with his world-weary ennui (not to mention boredom, anxiety and flickers of intelligence and terror). It's weirdly fun to watch an occasionally very suspenseful movie carried along by two such un-German Germans (to those familiar with Germans as they're usually portrayed). I was very entertained by this film.

I love the title. I think it's a nice wordplay. But when the movie starts you almost feel that it could go completely wrong. The voice over feels wrong. Then it does seem as if it does mix in with the mood of the film. A very slow moving thriller if you will. Very bad things may happen here and nobody may notice.

But that's also sort of its downfall. The fact, that it is very uneven, having great scenes followed by very weak scenes. Great performances with just completely weird dialog. Potential in the script that does not get fully explored and exposed. Ideas that seem to get thrown out the window halfway through. Still in its weirdness it stays kind of engaging. If you like weird that is.