Winter Films - 1

Even if you live in a warm climate and it’s not cold outside, imagine it is. Imagine you’re trapped inside your house with a killer snowstorm going on outdoors…you’ll be trapped for days. Maybe the electricity will go out… maybe you’ll run out of food. No. Scratch that. Like any forward-thinking slightly panicked American, you cleaned the supermarket out of Twinkies when you saw the forecast, so you’re set.

So light a fire in the fireplace [or turn on the fake fireplace app for your TV] and hunker down. Because we’re going to talk about winter movies with our goal being for you to write one. But as with any genre, if you want to write for it, you’d better know your genre.

When I think of winter films, the one that lingers in my memory most is one I’ll bet you’ve never heard of—Chilly Scenes of Winter [1979] written by Ann Beattie. This film is a quirky character study of a guy trying to win back his married love. That’s it, that’s the whole story. He goes to a lot of bizarre lengths trying to win her back, but it’s not a straight comedy. For its time, I’d call it more of a dark comedy. But there’s a sadness to it—so it’s also quite poignantly dramatic.

Chilly Scenes of Winter couldn’t have been filmed in the summer. Seriously, there’s just no way. The bleakness and coldness permeate this story. And it’s not just the weather that’s bleak, it’s the quest. Charles wants to win Laura back, but it looks like his chance of success is about as likely as a heatwave in this cold, desolate Midwestern landscape.

Winter becomes an antagonist in this film. Something to overcome, slog through, prevail over. But though Charles is determined, his chances of success seem slim to none. Still, as a character, we really bond with him. I mean don’t we always feel something for characters who pursue an impossible dream? Don’t we admire their doggedness, their ability to keep pursuing their quest against all odds?

But as we watch Charles struggle with the physical manifestations of winter, we also long for him to get warm, to succeed in his impossible quest, to have some modicum of happiness. But everywhere he turns, his car gets stuck in the unforgiving cold and no matter what he does, he’s stuck. Which, of course, is a metaphor for his personal situation—he’s stuck on Laura. He can’t imagine they won’t be together eventually.

When the Ice Age came, nothing escaped its wrath. And we feel that’s probably going to be true for good old Charles. And yet, and yet… Something makes us continue to root for him, to hope he’ll succeed against impossible odds.

Character. A strong character trapped in a landscape he didn’t create and has little power to change… and yet we hope he will change it. Logic goes out the window, we want our character to succeed. Period.

Character vs setting… maybe that’s one way to begin thinking about winter films and maybe it’s the beginning of thinking about a story YOU could tell.

Copyright © Diane Lake

25Nov18

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com