Snow Movies -- #1

It’s winter.

February is cold—unless you’re in Australia where it’s summer, or L.A. where it’s always summer or… well, you get my point. But for MOST of us, it’s February and it’s cold. And probably snowing.

When it’s snowing, you want to hunker down and watch a movie while a fire burns in the fireplace and you drink hot chocolate or hot buttered rum. And hey, sure, maybe you want to watch a movie about people bopping around on a beach somewhere, just to pretend the snow isn’t outside your door. But maybe you’d prefer to watch a movie that reflects what you’re going through—and that means a movie with snow.

So this month, let’s look at four good ones. I’ve talked about other winter movies before, but haven’t focused specifically on snow—and writing a movie about snow and how it effects a story might be something you’d like to do this winter, so let’s get started.

Let’s start with an oldie but a goodie: Dr. Zhivago [1965] by Robert Bolt. This s a film that’s over 50 years old but there’s not a thing that’s dated about it, not a thing that you might change if you were going to remake it.

One of the great things this film does is combine genres: it’s a political/historical film, it’s a love story, it’s a war film, and it’s a bit of an adventure. But through them all, there’s one thing that permeates the stories—the snow.

The film is set in Russia. Now. If you want to see snow, Russia is the place to go. At the beginning of the film we’re in Moscow, and the snow falls as people head off to a celebration in their horse-drawn carriages. But the action soon moves to the Russian countryside—basically, in the middle of nowhere. And that’s the moment I remember.

That moment when Yuri and his wife and child go to an old family house in the countryside to escape conditions in Moscow. Their horse-drawn carriage takes them to a house that is covered in ice and snow. It’s beautiful and chilling. Because it’s cold and snowy and the house is so big they’d never be able to heat it, they live in the smaller cottage—which probably once housed a servant. The seasons change, we see it in summer… but it’s soon back to winter, when Yuri is taken away by the Russians to fight. Here’s the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3swc3Ciho

And later in the film, the snow is so intense as Yuri battles his way back after getting away from the fighting, that his mustache and clothes are just covered with snow and ice.

Eventually he’ll come back to the country house with his lover, Lara—and they live in a small part of that big, cold house for a time.

Snow. You could be watching scenes of them in this freezing house on a day in July and I swear you’d shiver.

Snow. Cold. Bleakness… This epic movie sets one of the great love stories in that unforgiving setting. And the love story is intense and sweeping—even more so because of the backdrop it’s set against.

Think about that as you write—what’s the setting for your film? Is your soft, sweet story set in the middle of a snowstorm? Maybe that’s the way to go… maybe the snow can inspire you!

Another snowy story next week—shall we go for an adventurous sci-fi this time?

Copyright © Diane Lake

07Feb21

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com