There will also be a reason, complicated and mysterious, to justify because such beautiful landscapes are the ideal setting for cruel and wicked stories. Snow-capped mountains, frozen lakes, white and deserted expanses, the natural silence of vast and luminous panoramas, where the range of colors is reduced to the bare minimum. Who knows if this very context, distant and disturbing for us Mediterraneans, is the best key to understanding a literary genre, and now a cinematographic one, which nonetheless enjoys great success.
In this environment and precisely in this intertwining of images and sensations that develops "The Snowman", just released in Italian cinemas, based on the bestseller by Jo Nesbo. We find ourselves dealing with a serial killer who prefers to kill women and leave a signature with a snowman at the murder site. To solve the intricate investigation is called a policeman, an evergreen like Michael Fassbender in the guise of Harry Hole, an expert detective as bad with alcohol and complicated personal affairs. In search of the murderer he will be helped by a young colleague. It is a thriller and, of course, you will not read an extra line that could ruin the vision which, in any case, deserves the ticket. Even if, given the success Nesbo had in the books, expectations for this film adaptation were high but, judging by what was seen and by the critics, somewhat disregarded.
The narrative rhythm holds up well, albeit with some more intricate than legitimate script shortcuts. The director, Tomas Alfredson, keeps the tension moderately high but doesn't seem to be able to shape the role of the protagonists who sometimes appear gray, just like the environment around them, and unconvincing. Both the detective and the murderer, in his total ferocity, don't arouse particular feelings in the viewer as much as might be legitimate to expect. Raw and dramatically violent images are not enough to sustain the pathos of a thriller. It can also happen that you see little but you sense a lot. In this case, it almost seems that one is content with the settings that are as suggestive as they are ineffective in withstanding the emotional tension. In short, you don't get as glued to your seat as you would like from a film of this type.
However, let us add that we find ourselves, once again and with moderate satisfaction, seeing an interesting product in the panorama of this season's cinematographic offer. In the memory of those who love this kind of film it is easy to go back to the Millennium trilogy, by the Swedish Stieg Larsson where the snow, the ice, the gray and dark colors form the ideal backdrop for the crimes told. Moreover, it is known that in the Nordic countries the thriller genre is one of the most widespread to such an extent that, in Norway, the tradition of Paske Trim, the highly anticipated and highly followed Easter detective story, arose both in bookstores and on television. In our country we are happy to watch Inspector Montalbano's investigations or the new Coliandro series on television.
