From thrillers icy to moving dramas, its presence transforms atmospheres and marks the destiny of its characters. Here we present five films where snow is much more than a backdrop.
My poor little angel (Home Alone) (1990)
Kevin McCallister, an eight -year -old boy, is accidentally forgotten by his family when they go on Christmas holidays to Paris. Enjoying his initial freedom, he is soon forced to defend his home of two clumsy thieves, Harry and Marv, who try to assault her during the parties.
The snow and the cold winter of Chicago not only frame the Christmas season, but they are also key elements in Kevin’s ingenious traps, which use ice and low temperatures to frustrate criminals.
Protagonists: Macaulay Culkin (Kevin McCallister), Joe Pesci (Harry Lyme), Daniel Stern (Marv Murchins), Catherine O’Hara (Kate McCallister).
- Director: Chris Columbus.
- Available in Disney+.
Snowpiercer (Rompenieves) (2013)
In the post-apocalyptic future, a failed experiment to stop global warming has submerged the world in a new glacial era, killing almost a lifetime on earth. The only survivors travel aboard the snowpiercer, a train that perpetually orbits the planet. The society on board is rigidly divided by classes, with the poorest in the tail and the elite in the head.
The film follows a group from the back of the train that, tired of oppression, organizes a revolt to reach the machine and take control. Perpetual snow and ice outside the train are the reason for its existence and the constant threat that keeps it in motion.
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Protagonists: Chris Evans (Curtis Everett), Song Kang-ho (Namgoong Minsu), Ed Harris (Wilford), Tilda Swinton (Mason), Jamie Bell (Edgar).
- Director: Bong Joon-Ho.
- Available in Prime Video and Market Play.
The day after tomorrow (The Day After Tomorrow) (2004)
Plot summary: a sudden and drastic climate change triggers a new ice age in the northern hemisphere, with mass storms, extreme cold waves and accelerated glacier formation. Jack Hall, a paleoclimatologist, must warn the world about the imminent catastrophe and, at the same time, try to rescue his son, Sam, caught in New York.
Snow and ice become the destructive forces that sweep cities and freeze vast extensions, transforming the global landscape and putting humanity to the edge of extinction.
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Protagonists: Dennis Quaid (Jack Hall), Jake Gyllenhaal (Sam Hall), Emmy Rossum (Laura Chapman), Ian Holm (Professor Terry Rapson).
- Director: Roland Emmerich.
- Available at Disney+ and Play Market.
Fargo (1996)
Summary of the plot: in the icy Minnesota, Jerry Lundgaard, a seller of cars desperate for money, hires two thugs to kidnap his own wife and thus extort his wealthy father -in -law.
However, what begins as a “perfect” plan falls apart in a spiral of violence and misunderstanding, with police officer Marge Guinderson, pregnant and peaceful, investigating crimes in the midst of a relentless winter. The snow and the penetrating cold accentuate the desolation and darkness of human acts.
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Protagonists: Frances McDormand (Marge Guinderson), William H. Macy (Jerry Lundgaard), Steve Buscii (Carl Showalter), Peter Stormare (GASE GRIMSRUD).
- Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
- Available on Apple TV.
The Renaid (The Revenant) (2015)
Summary of the plot: set in the crude winter of 1823, this epic story follows Hugh Glass, a legendary trapper and explorer who is brutally attacked by a Grizzly bear and given dead by his own group of hunters.
Abandoned in the vast and frozen nature, Glass must withstand an unimaginable suffering and use its extraordinary abilities to survive and, finally, seek revenge against those who betrayed it. Snow and extreme climatic conditions are a relentless character that tests the limits of human resistance.
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Protagonists: Leonardo DiCaprio (Hugh Glass), Tom Hardy (John Fitzgerald), Domhnall Gleeson (Captain Andrew Henry), Will Poulter (Jim Bridger).
- Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
- Available in Disney+ and Prime Video.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
