Welcome back to my consistency experiment,
This is where I connect personal, daily life experiences with film talk. I'm trying to do all this in a brainstorm kind of way, in an attempt to become more consistent in my writing.
Just in case you feel like checking out earlier write ups of this series, here's links to part 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 where I talk about Stanley Kubrick, in particular the classic The Shining, movies on food and some intense food scenes in films, the power of editing and much, much more.
It's the 2nd of December and today must be the coldest day of the year so far. Here in The Netherlands, the temperature is around freezing point. I went for a walk that lasted about an hour and a half. I walked around a lake and through a park. My jacket was warm but I wasn't wearing any gloves. Even though I had put my hands inside my jacket's pockets, they felt very cold.
Thinking about a topic for today's post, winter movies or snowy, wintery scenes in movies popped up. So here we go:
MOVIES THAT I ENJOY THAT TAKE PLACE IN WINTER
John Carpenter's THE THING (1982)
I'm aware that this is the second adaptation of The Thing. The story it was based on, had already been made into a movie, namely the 1951 'The Thing from Another World'. Although I am usually a fan of the first one in a series, that isn't the case this time. This early 80s movie by John Carpenter is without a doubt my favorite adaptation of this sci-fi story. To be honest, I found the original black and white 50s film by Howard Hawks slightly boring when I watched it once on TV. Then there's a 2011 version of The Thing that I haven't seen yet. I honestly doubt that it tops this 80s sci-fi horror classic. I guess it doesn't help to watch Carpenter's version first and then the 50s movie, let alone the 2011 The Thing.
The version that John Carpenter brought to the screen is just plain fun. It is top notch entertaining 80s cinema and one of the many reasons why I love this decade in movie history. The film has legendary practical (monster) effects, a killer soundtrack and so much more to enjoy. If you haven't seen it yet, I advice you to watch the trailer. If you have, you might want to check it out anyway.
Before I forget: I love how the icicles blow in the wind like paper, or whatever they're made of. You gotta love the artificiality of this movie! It was made at a time when everything was still over the top. Back when we didn't take things so seriously.
Here you go:
THE THING - Trailer
Sergio Corbucci's IL GRANDE SILENZIO (The Great Silence, 1968)
Have you ever seen a (spaghetti) western that takes place in the snow? Probably not. And if you have, there's a chance it was the above movie. It's a western to be remembered, mainly because of it's originality - choosing snow over sun. It was one of the many movies that inspired Quentin Tarantino.
Kieslowski's THE DEKALOG
This isn't the title of a movie, but a 10 part series of short films, directed by the great Polish director Kieslowski. All films are loosely based upon one of the ten commandments.
I just discovered that Kubrick was an admire of the above, so we've gone full circle again. Still waiting for a post where I'm not mentioning his name, haha!
The very first episode and the one I remember most of all 10, takes place during winter. If I remember it well, it starts out with a father who's teaching his son how to calculate if the ice outside is strong enough for ice skating. Although I would advice you to watch all 10 shorts that the Dekalog consists of, this one in particular stuck with me. I watched it more than once and it gets to me every time.
To my surprise, I found this entire episode on Vimeo. Not sure for how long, but here's the link. If you've got 50 minutes to spare, it's definitely worth it:
Let's segway from Polish to Russian cinema. I recently saw a movie in cinema from the director of the beautiful drama The Return (2006). I had to look up (the spelling of) his name, Andrey Zvyagintsev. 14 years later, I got to watch his latest movie. It's called Loveless. It's quite a grim tale about people who can't find love - focusing on the disappearance and missing of a 12 year old boy in wintery Russia.
Here's the trailer:
I couldn't help it. Here's The Shining again. The final scene of the movie, to be precise. It takes place in a hedge maze. I realize that the fact that I think of this movie that often - even when I write - might be because it's one of a handful of movies that I watched a dozen of times or so.
Let's end it here for today.
A couple of other films/ scenes of films that came to mind, thinking about winter, were:
Fargo, the 80s movie as well as the TV Series (season 1).
and, one of the best anime movies ever - in my humble opinion - Princess Mononoke.
Bye for now!
The picture at the top of this post has been taken by me, today, with my iPhone 6s. Location: Gouda, The Netherlands