Film Review: Snow Cake

Snow Cake    7/10  (2006 Film – watched on DVD)

Director: Marc Evans
Starring: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss

Plot: a fatal car accident leads Alex (Alan Rickman) to form an unlikely friendship with Linda (Sigourney Weaver) who suffers from autism.

Snow Cake is a hugely underrated and largely unseen film. It is definitely one of 2006’s best kept secrets! The films’ most notable aspect is by far its casting; Alan Rickman reportedly ensured that Sigourney Weaver secured the role of Linda soon after reading the script. Weaver - whilst enduring a hit-and-miss career - excels here in an ambitious, wild and at times heartbreaking role. It’s quite an achievement for a famous actor or actress to completely immerse themselves in a role that makes audiences forget their other memorable characters – Weaver is purely seen as Linda here. Alan Rickman excels too, interweaving his relationship with Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss’ character perfectly. Rickman carries a solemn and lost character superbly, proving extremely convincing during the days after the traumatic car crash.

Marc Evans, director, has had a career consisting of small, independent films. However, he makes such a small, intimate story with few characters such a moving film. The cinematography is gorgeous throughout; most films merely capture the season of winter with wide shots but here Evans uses hand-held cameras, close-ups (and wide shots) to relate the movement of the story with the outside world. Similarly, the film – whilst not giving anything away – seems to start in a very claustrophobic, quiet manner yet as it progresses, the film seems to open up along with the characters (a development which is rarely pulled off!)

In Conclusion: Snow Cake is a film where very little really happens, yet the intriguing script and character development will keep you transfixed throughout. This may well be Sigourney Weaver’s best performance to date and it’s a shame there was no Oscar recognition for it.