First Snow is a first-rate psychological thriller that mixes the wintry bleakness of Fargo, the twisty instability of Memento, and the philosophical fatalism of Donnie Darko to create an extraordinary film. My comparisons are not meant to be belittling. This is, as I see it, an exceptionally creative and original feature. The sad truth, though, is that you’ve probably never even heard of it. The 3 aforementioned films should at least give you a decent impression of the film’s tone and provide a hint as to whether this film is for you or not. Mark Fergus (hot off an Oscar nod for adapting last year’s viciously overlooked Children of Men) makes his directorial debut here and proves himself wholly adept at supernatural human drama. Much like Children of Men (another good reference to measure interest) this film is motivated by an unreal catalyst but truly about the characters at its core. The eternally awesome Guy Pearce stars as a fast talking charlatan named Jimmy Starks who casually visits a fortune teller while waiting for his car to get fixed at an isolated mechanic shop. He’s told, after some theatrics, that his death is approaching and that he should beware winter’s first snow. The film proceeds as both a preemptive whodunit in search of the identity of Jimmy’s not yet guilty murderer and a portrait of one man’s mounting paranoia. As winter presses forward, each snowflake is an omen of Jimmy’s demise and his once self-confident swagger dies at the mercy of impending peril.
Friday, November 30, 2007
DVD of the Week: First Snow
First Snow is a first-rate psychological thriller that mixes the wintry bleakness of Fargo, the twisty instability of Memento, and the philosophical fatalism of Donnie Darko to create an extraordinary film. My comparisons are not meant to be belittling. This is, as I see it, an exceptionally creative and original feature. The sad truth, though, is that you’ve probably never even heard of it. The 3 aforementioned films should at least give you a decent impression of the film’s tone and provide a hint as to whether this film is for you or not. Mark Fergus (hot off an Oscar nod for adapting last year’s viciously overlooked Children of Men) makes his directorial debut here and proves himself wholly adept at supernatural human drama. Much like Children of Men (another good reference to measure interest) this film is motivated by an unreal catalyst but truly about the characters at its core. The eternally awesome Guy Pearce stars as a fast talking charlatan named Jimmy Starks who casually visits a fortune teller while waiting for his car to get fixed at an isolated mechanic shop. He’s told, after some theatrics, that his death is approaching and that he should beware winter’s first snow. The film proceeds as both a preemptive whodunit in search of the identity of Jimmy’s not yet guilty murderer and a portrait of one man’s mounting paranoia. As winter presses forward, each snowflake is an omen of Jimmy’s demise and his once self-confident swagger dies at the mercy of impending peril.
