The long-running series of Nordic Crime Mysteries starring the fictional troubled police detective Harry Hole finally made it to the big screen in 2017. It was given the best foot forward with a who’s who of A-list talent in front and behind the camera. Michael Fassbender as Hole, Rebecca Ferguson, Chloë Sevigny, James D’Arcy, JK Simmons, Charlotte Gainsborough, and Val Kilmer. Directed by Thomas Alfredson. Produced by Martin Scorsese. It should have been an easy success. But it wasn’t. Just like Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, maybe everything was a bit too big budget for its own good.
An adaptation of a literary juggernaut does not necessarily equal box office success. Part of the problem with The Snowman is that it doesn’t feel involving in any way. The adaptation, the characters, the setting, nothing feels fresh or exciting. Part of the issue with Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo adaptation was that it came on the heels of a successful TV Miniseries Adaptation (which was turned into Movies for US Audiences). With time and distance, Fincher’s film has become reassessed as a minor key masterpiece.
Time hasn’t been that kind to The Snowman. The film remains a rehash of far more interesting literary detectives. It’s interesting in fits and starts but not enough to be anything but predictable, including the second-act “shocking” murder of a primary character and the “twisted twist” ending, both of which one can see coming as soon as the film starts. The film is visually astute with Alfredson and cinematographer Dion Bebe shooting Norway in the icy perfection one would expect. The performances are similarly astute though uninspired. One wishes that Fassbender would have found inspiration in the deeply troubled detective as he often does with those types of fractured characters.
The Snowman is only for the deeply committed fan of Nordic crime thrillers (which there are quite a few). Those hoping for an inspired murder mystery should look elsewhere.
The Transfers
The HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is a true upgrade from Universal’s original 2018 Blu-ray edition. The picture is flawlessly reproduced in 4K without any aberrations or issues through the runtime. This 4K edition has kept the perfection of cinematographer Dion Bebe’s shot-on-location in and around Oslo, Norway, digital photography. One can see every snowflake with a level of detail that even exceeds its theatrical presentation back in 2017. The Dolby Vision encoding has allowed for far more detailed blacks and contrast levels. Even the color reproduction gets a boost, though the film is stylistically absent of color. Bravo to Kino Lorber for such a considerate upgrade.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker / Film Historian Steve Mitchell and Screenwriter Michael Charles Hill
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger and Marc Edward Heuck
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker / Film Historian Steve Mitchell and Screenwriter Michael Charles Hill
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger and Marc Edward Heuck
Cast of Characters
Creating Jo Nesbø’s World
The Snowman Killer
Norwegian Landscape
Stunt Files: The Sinking Lake
Theatrical Trailer
The first of two all-new Audio Commentary tracks is by Filmmaker / Film Historian Steve Mitchell and Screenwriter Michael Charles Hill. The duo begins with credentials, diving into the unknown world of Norway that may be foreign to most American Audiences. Some of the details include the directorial style of Tomas Alfredson; a discussion of the work of the novelist Jo Nesbø and the character Harry Hole; the work of star Michael Fassbender; what separates the directorial style of Alfredson from his contemporaries and other genre-centric directors; the appearance of Val Kilmer and the reasons why he was dubbed over by another actor; a discussion of the history of detectives and the troupes used here; the adaptation and process the production thought about creating an ongoing series; the version that Martin Scorsese would have directed that was set in Chicago rather than Norway; a larger discussion of the adaptation of the novel and characters; a larger discussion of the various locations in Norway the production used; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more. Mitchell, as is his custom, has some truly great quotes (this time from novelist Nesbø and the cast and crew).
The second all-new Audio Commentary track is by Film Historians Howard S. Berger and Marc Edward Heuck. This duo begins with their introductions before diving into what Heuck calls ‘one of the most hotly debated films of the teens,’ to which Berger discusses how critically reviled it was. Some of the details include a discussion of the various giallo films that this film feels a spiritual cousin to, especially the lesser-known ones (like Torso), which were not well received; a discussion of the credited writers that adapted the book, Peter Straughan, Hossein Amini, Søren Sveistrup; how this film lines up with the themes of other Alfredson films; the criticism of the casting of Val Kilmer and a discussion of the reasons why they kept the actor on; a larger discussion of the issues the production faced (10-15% of the script was not filmed because of budgetary issues), which forced them to reshape this film in post-production; a larger discussion of the actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Cast of Characters (7:47) – this archival featurette looks at the casting of the various actors to fill the roles of the film by the crew and actors themselves.
Creating Jo Nesbø’s World (4:06) – this archival featurette looks at the Nordic Crime Mystery series and the character Harry Hole as created by novelist Jo Nesbø.
The Snowman Killer (4:04) – IMPORTANT NOTE: This does give away the killer’s identity within the first five seconds. The archival featurette looks at the character and history of the “snowman killer”.
Norwegian Landscape (6:34) – this archival featurette looks at the importance of production shooting on location in Norway which the original novel (and entire series) by Nesbø is set. This behind-the-scenes look features a surprising wealth of b-roll footage from the production.
Stunt Files: The Sinking Lake (1:37) – this archival featurette looks at stunt work done on location and in studio to produce the frozen lake bed that features in the opening and finale.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Snowman (2:25); Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2:01); Red Dragon (2:06); Suspect Zero (2:14); Eastern Promises (2:22); Twisted (2:03); The Hunted (2:22);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has provided collectors with another winning 4K UHD upgrade.
Michael Fassbender plays troubled detective Harry Hole in Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of the Nordic detective mystery The Snowman. New to 4K UHD, loaded with special features from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Hello, Mister Police.
The long-running series of Nordic Crime Mysteries starring the fictional troubled police detective Harry Hole finally made it to the big screen in 2017. It was given the best foot forward with a who’s who of A-list talent in front and behind the camera. Michael Fassbender as Hole, Rebecca Ferguson, Chloë Sevigny, James D’Arcy, JK Simmons, Charlotte Gainsborough, and Val Kilmer. Directed by Thomas Alfredson. Produced by Martin Scorsese. It should have been an easy success. But it wasn’t. Just like Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, maybe everything was a bit too big budget for its own good.
An adaptation of a literary juggernaut does not necessarily equal box office success. Part of the problem with The Snowman is that it doesn’t feel involving in any way. The adaptation, the characters, the setting, nothing feels fresh or exciting. Part of the issue with Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo adaptation was that it came on the heels of a successful TV Miniseries Adaptation (which was turned into Movies for US Audiences). With time and distance, Fincher’s film has become reassessed as a minor key masterpiece.
Time hasn’t been that kind to The Snowman. The film remains a rehash of far more interesting literary detectives. It’s interesting in fits and starts but not enough to be anything but predictable, including the second-act “shocking” murder of a primary character and the “twisted twist” ending, both of which one can see coming as soon as the film starts. The film is visually astute with Alfredson and cinematographer Dion Bebe shooting Norway in the icy perfection one would expect. The performances are similarly astute though uninspired. One wishes that Fassbender would have found inspiration in the deeply troubled detective as he often does with those types of fractured characters.
The Snowman is only for the deeply committed fan of Nordic crime thrillers (which there are quite a few). Those hoping for an inspired murder mystery should look elsewhere.
The Transfers
The HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is a true upgrade from Universal’s original 2018 Blu-ray edition. The picture is flawlessly reproduced in 4K without any aberrations or issues through the runtime. This 4K edition has kept the perfection of cinematographer Dion Bebe’s shot-on-location in and around Oslo, Norway, digital photography. One can see every snowflake with a level of detail that even exceeds its theatrical presentation back in 2017. The Dolby Vision encoding has allowed for far more detailed blacks and contrast levels. Even the color reproduction gets a boost, though the film is stylistically absent of color. Bravo to Kino Lorber for such a considerate upgrade.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The first of two all-new Audio Commentary tracks is by Filmmaker / Film Historian Steve Mitchell and Screenwriter Michael Charles Hill. The duo begins with credentials, diving into the unknown world of Norway that may be foreign to most American Audiences. Some of the details include the directorial style of Tomas Alfredson; a discussion of the work of the novelist Jo Nesbø and the character Harry Hole; the work of star Michael Fassbender; what separates the directorial style of Alfredson from his contemporaries and other genre-centric directors; the appearance of Val Kilmer and the reasons why he was dubbed over by another actor; a discussion of the history of detectives and the troupes used here; the adaptation and process the production thought about creating an ongoing series; the version that Martin Scorsese would have directed that was set in Chicago rather than Norway; a larger discussion of the adaptation of the novel and characters; a larger discussion of the various locations in Norway the production used; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more. Mitchell, as is his custom, has some truly great quotes (this time from novelist Nesbø and the cast and crew).
The second all-new Audio Commentary track is by Film Historians Howard S. Berger and Marc Edward Heuck. This duo begins with their introductions before diving into what Heuck calls ‘one of the most hotly debated films of the teens,’ to which Berger discusses how critically reviled it was. Some of the details include a discussion of the various giallo films that this film feels a spiritual cousin to, especially the lesser-known ones (like Torso), which were not well received; a discussion of the credited writers that adapted the book, Peter Straughan, Hossein Amini, Søren Sveistrup; how this film lines up with the themes of other Alfredson films; the criticism of the casting of Val Kilmer and a discussion of the reasons why they kept the actor on; a larger discussion of the issues the production faced (10-15% of the script was not filmed because of budgetary issues), which forced them to reshape this film in post-production; a larger discussion of the actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Cast of Characters (7:47) – this archival featurette looks at the casting of the various actors to fill the roles of the film by the crew and actors themselves.
Creating Jo Nesbø’s World (4:06) – this archival featurette looks at the Nordic Crime Mystery series and the character Harry Hole as created by novelist Jo Nesbø.
The Snowman Killer (4:04) – IMPORTANT NOTE: This does give away the killer’s identity within the first five seconds. The archival featurette looks at the character and history of the “snowman killer”.
Norwegian Landscape (6:34) – this archival featurette looks at the importance of production shooting on location in Norway which the original novel (and entire series) by Nesbø is set. This behind-the-scenes look features a surprising wealth of b-roll footage from the production.
Stunt Files: The Sinking Lake (1:37) – this archival featurette looks at stunt work done on location and in studio to produce the frozen lake bed that features in the opening and finale.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Snowman (2:25); Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2:01); Red Dragon (2:06); Suspect Zero (2:14); Eastern Promises (2:22); Twisted (2:03); The Hunted (2:22);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has provided collectors with another winning 4K UHD upgrade.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of The Snowman is out now.
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