The Snowman

Poor in terms of story, in terms of form – brilliant. Paradoxically, everybody was worried about all sorts of things, just not a faulty story, especially when it’s filmed according to the Norwegian crime-writer king, Jo Nesba. Alfredson’s realistic approach with wonderful, long shots of seriously snowy landscape warms the heart. The same applies to modern investigation techniques, which aren’t given much room in this movie, because when something starts happening that might be of interest, it cuts to another place – the screenplay diverges from the book. That’s where the problem lies. Fassbender is excellent – a guy a bit off the rails, but still in form, but on the point of giving everything up – is a perfect Hole. On the other, the second most famous name on the poster, Kilmer, comes across as almost charming. Otherwise, the cast is a delight, although they don’t get the chance to show they stuff on screen, which is another reason why lots of scenes seem just to fizzle out. A movie full of contradiction which most likely won’t lead to a series. (2017-10-16)

Boring, transparent, playing on the horrible psychology of the characters. But anyone who doesn't know Hole could care less because you don't see into him, you just know that he must be drinking and must have been living with someone and being a dad to someone, but he wasn't very good at it. He probably liked them, they probably liked him. But he screwed up sometimes. Probably the drinking. And then there's the killer. He's got a problem, too, but on the other hand, he's a genius because he can commit murder and build snowmen undetected. This adaptation was a waste of time. I haven't read the source material, but it’s been a long time since I’ve see such a boring movie. (2018-01-16)

The chilling and bleak atmosphere is worth a million, Michael Fassbender is spot on (it only takes a moment to grasp where his Harry is – namely, at rock bottom), an interesting case, a very clever script, and Alfredson's exceptional direction. As in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the viewer is directly pushed to pay attention to details, to notice dialogue, to be constantly on alert... but there’s an important difference:in The Snowman, such attention does not reward you whatsoever in the end; on the contrary, it is meant to distract you with false clues, confuse you, and catch you out. And it succeeds, I have to say, to a tee. It's up to you to decide how much you want to blame the filmmakers. I thoroughly enjoyed the story (of which I haven't read the source material). ____ P.S. Marc Beltrami's soundtrack is definitely worth a separate listen. (2019-07-30)

What a disaster. I have no idea why the creators decided to introduce Harry Hole to the audience through an adaptation of the sixth part of the book series. I don't know what someone who has never read the series can take away from the film, as it contains a lot of references to the previous storyline which isn’t part of the film. The film itself didn't make much sense to me, regardless of having read the books. The filmmakers made such a mess of the original story that I’m not sure why the murders were so complicated, and most of all, why J.K. Simmons agreed to take part in it. (2018-03-08)

The adaptation of Jo Nesbø's The Snowman definitely had more potential. I haven't read the book, but it was certainly more interesting than this bland detective story with mediocre visuals and a bored Michael Fassbender. These cold Nordic serial killer thrillers are usually top notch, here the Americans must have interfered a lot in the film, otherwise I can't really explain the failure. The murders are almost non-existent, so forget about the blood, the atmosphere is not very good and the only thing that surprises is the identity of the killer, which I didn't figure out. It is watchable, but the film lacks any WOW effect, which is a shame. The best scene from the trailer doesn’t even appear in the film. 55% (2017-12-14)