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THE MOVIE: Snow Angels

THE STARS:
Kate Beckinsale • Sam Rockwell • Michael Angarano • Olivia Thirlby
DIRECTOR: David Gordon Green

THE CONCEPT:
Annie (Beckinsale) is trying to build a new life with her young daughter after splitting from her high school sweetheart Glenn (Sam Rockwell), who has a troubled past. Then Glenn and Annie’s past catches up with them and in one shocking moment, for them and everyone around, everything changes…

U.S. RELEASE: March 7 2008, Limited • Rated: R

THE COMMENTS:

DAVID GORDON GREEN:
“The novel is narrated and seen through the eyes by the Arthur character (Angarano) looking back. It was written as a period piece, it took place in the early ‘70s with the backdrop of the Vietnam War. In my adaptation of it, I wanted to personalize it to my own sensibilities, trying to make an environment that was somewhat timeless, there are cell phones but there are also record players, it’s its own kind of special place that hopefully people of any age can look at it and see what they saw in themselves through our obscure looking-glass.”

KATE BECKINSALE:
“Annie is a woman who’s I think in the beginning just drowning in all her responsibilities, she’s got a job that’s not fulfilling, she’s solely responsible for her child, she has a husband who she’s separated from who is kind of like another child, and I think she’s very oppressed by her life, She feels like she was going to get more out of it than she did, and is disappointed and struggling. And because she’s busy and overwhelmed, her life is kind of like a treadmill that she can’t get off, and she finds herself on a really tough journey.”

MICHAEL ANGARANO (Arthur):
“A lot of what Arthur feels is what the audience feels. Whether he knows it or not, he grows up during the course of the film. To Annie, Arthur is a bit of the past [as she used to be his babysitter], a bit of who she used to be. For Arthur, being around Annie makes him realize he’s a man now. But Arthur is also an only child whose parents are separating. He has a good relationship with his parents, but to see them going through this puts him in a weird funk. Finally the audience gets to see Arthur go from a relatively meek character to one that can stand up to his father and realize he can deal with anything.”

OLIVIA THIRLBY (Lila):
"I’ve been told that I was the only person who auditioned for the role of Lila, and after Michael and I read together in New York it worked completely and the relationship felt right. I was a huge fan of David’s work, and when I found out I was going to have the chance to meet him and audition for him, I immediately watched the films of his that I hadn’t seen, and was just pinching myself that I would have the opportunity to meet him, even just to audition for him.”

GREEN:
“[The film spotlights] a series of characters, and there is an exploration of their relationships and environment that is an inviting way to recognize the connections you’ve had with people, and analyze the disconnections you’ve had with people. If anything our goal in creating these characters is to draw you in, to make it a place that if you don’t recognize or relate immediately, you can take from, learn from and grow from emotionally by taking a ride with them.”

BECKINSALE:
“It was emotionally grueling. I went to some tough places, but I get to knew I got to go home and get into bed with my kid and squeeze her face, and that helped. It depended on the scene [whether I stayed in character all day or not]. Some of the scenes towards the end of the movie were like Sam (Rockwell) and I going into our corners like a boxing match, and there wasn’t a lot of joking on the set that day, because you want to keep the energy that you have that is working, and you don’t want to distract from it. On the days that weren’t so intense, we had loads of fun, we picked a lot of people who were capable of having a good laugh and that really helped.”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Visit the official Snow Angels site
Images above © Warner Independent Pictures
Feature © 2008 Visual Imagination Limited.
Not for reproduction.

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