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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…
Snowpiercer (2013)
I don’t like this film but I’m including it in the series because it’s original and a lot of other folks like it. It’s a post-apocalyptic film about a train that, as the title suggests, rides through a wintry Earth that has frozen over when an attempt at climate-change mitigation goes bad. The train is an ark that carries the last survivors.
Quite a bit of suspension of disbelief is required to watch the film because the entire premise is ridiculous, but it's really just a metaphor anyway, so that’s how you need to see it. The acting is really well done and the writing is very good for what it is, but the cinematography – particularly the lighting and exposure – is done in a way that makes it nearly impossible to see what is going on. A lot films do this to try to invoke a depressing or fearful mood, but its just irritating to not be able to see what's going on.
If you like post-apocalyptic movies about trains, big naked metaphors and poorly lit scenes, then you’ll probably like this one, otherwise I’d skip it.
Note: When this film was first released, Weinstein demanded that 25 minutes be cut from the film, however due to fan requests, a director’s cut was later released under TWC’s house brand, Radius-TWC. I think a review of both versions might give insight to how Hollywood censors and molds the messages in its films.
@Pat Did you watch it in the theater or on your computer? I don't remember it being hard to see...
>"Did you watch it in the theater or on your computer? I don't remember it being hard to see..."
I haven't seen a film in a theater in a long time. This is just a pet peeve of mine. A lot of films have been doing this, either because they don't want to spend money on decent sets (and the lighting hides the flaws) or they think it cool or trendy or who knows why.
I remember many years ago when they used to shoot night scenes during the day with the camera's aperture stopped down to make it look like a moonlit night. I always thought that looked kind of fake, but at least you could see what was going on. 🙂
@Pat That could have been the issue. Depending on your computer and its settings.