Snow Angels (2007/I)

Director:

David Gordon Green

Writers (WGA):

David Gordon Green (screenplay)
Stewart O'Nan (novel)

Release Date:

11 September 2008 (Greece)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Some will fall. Some will fly.

Plot:

A drama that interweaves the life of a teenager, with his old baby sitter, her estranged husband, and their daughter.

Plot Keywords:

School | Flashback | Snow | Restaurant | Small Town

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Kate Beckinsale	...	Annie Marchand
Sam Rockwell	...	Glenn Marchand
Michael Angarano	...	Arthur Parkinson
Jeannetta Arnette	...	Louise Parkinson
Griffin Dunne	...	Don
Nicky Katt	...	Nate Petite
Tom Noonan	...	Band Leader
Connor Paolo	...	Warren Hardesky
Amy Sedaris	...	Barb Petite
Olivia Thirlby	...	Lila Raybern
Gracie Hudson	...	Tara
Brian Downey	...	Frank Marchand
Carroll Godsman	...	Olive
Daniel Lillford	...	Rafe
Deborah Allen	...	May Van Dorn
Slavko Negulic	...	Oskar (as Slavico Negulic)
Leah Ostry	...	Lily Raybern
Lita Llewellyn	...	Tricia
Peter Blais	...	Mr. Eisenstat
Hugh Thompson	...	Inspector Burns
Angela Vermeir	...	Marcia Dolan
Yuriy Sobeshchakov	...	Mall Photographer
Linda M. Kearley	...	Carpet Shopper #1
Wendy Purkis	...	Carpet Shopper #2
Brian Heighton	...	Trooper #1
Chase Duffy	...	Trooper #2
Martha Irving	...	Policewoman
George E. Clayton	...	Dancing King
Joanne Fordham	...	Lady Krueger
Amy Richard	...	Warren's Girl
Scott Clackum	...	Dancing Groom
Pat Healy	...	Nursing Home Operator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joe the Dog	...	Bomber (uncredited)

Directed by
David Gordon Green

Writing credits (WGA)
David Gordon Green		(screenplay)
Stewart O'Nan		(novel "Snow Angels")

Produced by
Jeannie Donovan Fisher	....	executive producer
Dan Lindau	....	producer
R. Paul Miller	....	producer
Lisa Muskat	....	producer
Cami Taylor	....	producer
Derrick Tseng	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Jeff McIlwain
David Wingo

Cinematography by
Tim Orr

Casting by
Kerry Barden
Billy Hopkins
Paul Schnee
Suzanne Smith

Production Design by
Richard A. Wright

Art Direction by
Terry Quennell

Set Decoration by
Ian Greig

Costume Design by
Kate Rose

Makeup Department
Evan Hyisky	....	key hair stylist
Elizabeth Kuchurean	....	key hair stylist
Elizabeth Kuchurean	....	key makeup artist
Amanda O'Leary	....	assistant makeup artist
Vasilios Tanis	....	personal makeup artist: Kate Beckinsale

Production Management
Meredith Blake	....	post-production supervisor
Elizabeth Guildford	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Devin Hillier	....	third assistant director
Kay Robertson	....	second assistant director
John Shurko	....	trainee assistant director
Stuart Williams	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jason Clarke	....	assistant art director
Mark MacAulay	....	art department intern
Andy Miller	....	props

Sound Department
Larry Blake	....	sound re-recording mixer
Larry Blake	....	supervising sound editor
Christof Gebert	....	production sound mixer
Gerry Jackman	....	boom operator
Kimaree Long	....	dialogue editor
Billy Theriot	....	assistant sound editor

Special Effects by
Gary Coates	....	special effects coordinator

Stunts
John Awoods	....	stunt double
Randy Boliver	....	stunt coordinator
Peter Simas	....	stunt double
Peter Simas	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Brian A. Adams	....	daily grip
Keith Adams	....	best boy grip
Chris Baxter	....	dolly grip
Lori Ann Bellefontaine	....	generator operator
Darcy Fraser	....	assistant camera
Ron MacNeil	....	grip
Michael P. Mason	....	daily grip
Robert J. Petrie	....	gaffer
Ross Sangster	....	key grip
James Thibodeau	....	best boy
Rob Turner	....	grip
Todd Voogt	....	daily grip

Casting Department
Sheila Lane	....	casting
Marny Smith	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lawrence Willett	....	costume assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
George Bunce	....	digital intermediate on-line editor
John Crowley	....	digital intermediate colorist
Jeff Hocken	....	telecine operator
Chris DeLaGuardia	....	color timer (uncredited)
Travis Sittard	....	additional editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Janice Ginsberg	....	music supervisor
Kyle Wilamowski	....	assistant to music supervisor

Transportation Department
Rob Eshelby	....	az driver

Other crew
William Flower	....	animal wrangler
Cathy Grant	....	production coordinator
Maynard Harris	....	power pod technician
Phil Hatcher	....	assistant location manager
Tracey Hatcher	....	accounting assistant
Mary Louise McCloskey	....	script supervisor
Janice Sheridan	....	production accountant
Andy Smith	....	dialect coach
Chris Turner	....	stand-in
Heather Lowther	....	animal trainer: dog (uncredited)
Thomas Torrey	....	office production assistant intern (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Crossroads Films
• Snow Blower Productions
• True Love Productions

Distributors

• Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2007) (Romania) (all media)
• Spentzos Films (2009) (Greece) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Special Effects Atlantic

Other Companies

• Checkmark  funding
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Angeloi apo hioni (Greece) [el]
Engel im Schnee (Germany) (video title) [de]
Lefkoi angeloi (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violent content, brief sexuality and drug use.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:MA | Norway:15

Filming Locations:

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Crossroads Films

Trivia:

David Gordon Green, who would end up directing the film, first worked on the script for another director. After 3 years, this other director moved on to other projects and Green was approached by the producers to make the film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: This film is supposedly set in the 1970s. In the scene where Arthur is eating bologna and mayonnaise from the fridge while waiting for Annie, the mayonnaise container in his hand is a style that wasn't marketed until approximately the time the film was made (around 2006-2007).

Quotes:

Louise Parkinson: Arthur, I'm gonna ask you a favour to not bottle this up inside, okay? It's easy for us to block out the things that upset us, that's what I do. That's what most people do. But it's important that you feel through this, it's so important I can't tell you.

Movie Connections:

References Top Gun (1986)

Soundtrack:

Chinese Character 2

Hard to watch but worth paying the price

"Snow Angels" is a glimpse in time of several relationships, some simmering and ready to boil, others cooling down, and at least one whose flame has yet to be lit. It's also a thriller, with a gunshot that is heard as the film opens. The narrative is linear but writer/director David Gordon Green, adapting the novel by Stewart O'Nan, takes the couples' stories and interweaves them in such a way that we never quite know all the secrets at the heart of the mystery. The film flashes back as we try to see how we got from there to here. In many ways the overriding theme deals with the promise of what once was versus the reality of what could have been. The "reality" is embodied in the relationships which are falling apart, as evident in the older couples. The "promise" is represented by the young couple whose lives are just beginning.

At the heart of the film is the crumbling relationship between Sam Rockwell as Glenn and Kate Beckinsale as Annie. We watch Glenn almost literally disintegrating before our eyes as he tries to get a grip on who he is and why his marriage is failing. Glenn is one of the most frightening characters I've seen outside of horror films. Kate Beckinsale's Annie is breathtaking, in every sense of the word. We bear witness to a life in free fall as everything and everyone she loves seems just out of reach. You know those dreams where you can't quite get to where you want? You try to touch it but it stays at arm's length? That's Annie's world. We so painfully watch as the madness around her takes its toll, and she weathers the way rain erodes rich topsoil, leaving little but rocky dirt underneath. Amy Sedaris is Annie's best friend Barb. She has her own marital fires to put out, and the relationship between Annie and Barb progresses in a way nobody can imagine. She is a joy to watch. In the midst of the darkness there are some lighter moments as well, and Michael Angarano (Arthur Parkinson), Olivia Thirlby (Lila Raybern), and Connor Paolo (Warren) have the lion's share of them. They are essentially the light in the darkness that surrounds the rest of the film. It should be no surprise to fans of Angarano that writer/director David Gordon Green would have chosen him to play Arthur Parkinson. He's not yet comfortable in his own skin, a trait which could describe most adolescents. He's a bit shy, nervous, and even nerdy, yet he is charming enough that everyone else seems drawn to him even though he doesn't seem to be aware of it. As Arthur's muse, Olivia Thirlby's Lila is the female representation of those awkward teenage years and an almost equal counterpart to Michael's Arthur. Their tender tiptoeing around each other is one of the most touching depictions of first love I've seen in cinema. Connor, as Arthur's best friend Warren, provides some much needed comic relief. He is a smart-ass whose ego often backfires. He's funny and not quite as smart as he thinks he is. Among other standout performances is Griffin Dunne (Don) as Arthur's flighty dad. Or should we say father, not really the "Dad" that Arthur wants or needs him to be, but the boy clings to him in this critical time of life when he is most in need of a male role model. But he won't find one here. It's this failure to connect which climaxes in an exchange between them that gave me chills. It was a jaw-dropping moment.

So much of the film is frightening that, as Green said in the Q&A afterward, he had to find actors who could infuse some humor into their characters, otherwise it would be too heavy. All around me were glistening eyes and tissues wiping away tears. At its heart it is a sad story and the audience was hushed at the end. Many have wondered how much of the film is David Gordon Green's adaptation as opposed to the Stewart O'Nan novel on which it is based. Green did discuss this at length in the Q&A. After reading the book, he knew he had to make it into a film. But he also immediately knew that it would have to be heavily adapted. The more he wrote the more he realized just how much would really have to come from his own hand. The impression I got was that what we see on screen is much more David's work than maybe even he had initially anticipated.

Jeff McIlwain and David Wingo's score is haunting, as is the film. It is used sparsely, only to punctuate the dramatic moments, as the subject matter is weighty enough that it didn't need much augmentation. It's used efficiently and effectively. The film is visually stunning. No surprise here, as it was shot by Green's longtime collaborator Tim Orr. His work is unmistakable -- gutters dripping, swings on a swing set, clouds, contrails, aluminum siding -- you can always tell his work. He sees language in shapes and movement of inanimate objects. He then connects them to the action in the story, often with a wink and a nod. Blink and you might miss it. The beautiful winter landscape of Nova Scotia gives him a palette from which he can choose many colors. The juxtaposition of Orr's beautiful photography with the horrors David Gordon Green exposes us to in "Snow Angels" is nothing short of genius.

This is a true work of art, to which many filmmakers aspire. Few hit the mark. I'm not sure if that's what David Gordon Green was trying to do here, but he did it nonetheless. There is little doubt in my mind that this is a film which will make you think about the innocence of youth and how fleeting it is, and make you wonder if it has to be that way.