Snow Angels : Why no snow angels?

Why no snow angels?

*SPOILERS*



In the book, Glen before he kills Annie and himself goes to Rafe's house and drops off a blanket that Rafe lent to Glen, Glen wishes he had something to leave Rafe to say goodbye, but he has nothing so he plops down into the snow and makes a snow angel and writes "ME" in the snow, he then goes to Tara's grave and does the same thing. To me this was a very important aspect to the story and the book. In the movie however they removed the snow angels and instead when Glen removes the painting of the cross and the sea of blood from his wall there is a red hand print with the words "ME" written on it. I found this to be much less effective than the show angel and it should have been left how it was in the book. The difference between the snow angel and the hand print is that one is a better analogy for the shortness of life and even memories. In a few days the snow angel is gone, as is most if not all memory of Glen and Annie. People move on and other things, other love is born and begins dying again. Just like Glen and Annie.

Anyways I just wanted to give my thoughts on what I thought was one of the biggest differences between the movie and the book. Your thoughts on this are welcome, I look forward to reading them.

Re: Why no snow angels?

I thought the exact same thing. I just finished reading the book this weekend and absolutely loved it, one of my favorite reads in the last while. Anyways, I rented the movie tonight and was a little dissapointed as there were definate changes from the book, as I know most book-to-film adaptations are, but the biggest one for me was Glenn not leaving the snow angels...i think it had some significance if the book was in fact titled Snow Angels. It wasn't called "Bloody handprint". Anyways, the one thing I did like better in the film was the relationship between Arthur and Lila....i would have liked to have seen more of them actually. And why change the Brock character to the name Nate when every other name remained the same. I know it's a small detail but it bothered me lol....did you enjoy the book or the film better? For me, I enjoyed the book better. But the movie was still incredible...the scene in which arthur and and warren find little tara in the water and Annie's reaction to the news, I had goose bumps. Anyways, these are my thoughts!!

Re: Why no snow angels?

Excellent comment and thank you for the reply. I agree with your thoughts on the strengths of the film and the book. I concur that the movie did a better job at handling the brightness of the relationship between Arthur and Lila and it just seemed more interesting and beautiful in the film as opposed to the book. However the book did just about everything else better and in more depth than the movie. I would cite most the relationship between Arthur's separated parents and especially his mother. This was handled with much more emphases in the book. Plus O'Nan's writing is just a joy to read in my opinion. His minimalistic approach to the story is handled with a technically simple yet extravagant in the tiniest details writing style. I would not have discovered his writing though if it were not for this movie which I downloaded on a whim and enjoyed so much. I think the book and movie compliment one another very well, except for the odd omission of the snow angel by Glen it is a really stunning film that stands on its own merits. Plus since I saw the film first the characters in the book will always look like those in the film to me, which is a good thing as I really enjoyed the entire cast of this movie. I hope it generates some well deserved attention to mr. O'Nan and his books. I picked up A Prayer For The Dying at the same time as Snow Angels at the book store and I am now started on it, how about you have you or do you plan to read any of his other works?

regards

Re: Why no snow angels?

I know you weren't replying to me, but I've read Wish You Were Here, which I thought was highly underrated but not as good as Snow Angels.

I do understand why you prefer the book. One of the things that got me interested in Snow Angels was I'm a huge fan of David Gordon Green and when I saw the preview for this I had to read the book. I loved the book so much and have now read it 3 times. When I finally saw the movie, I was very happy with how close it was to the book and it does have some unnecessary changes, but compared to other adaptations (i.e. L.A. Confidential) it was very close. It's actually a lot harder to write and adaptation than you'd probably think. There are a lot of key moments in a book like Snow Angels that are hard to convey on screen.





I'm Not There. I'm Gone.

Re: Why no snow angels?

Oddly enough, it seems that the snow angel scene was filmed, but cut. If you go to www.snow-angels.com, then to gallery, there's a still of Glenn making a snow angel. Strange that they removed that scene from the final edit, especially since it appears to have been shot.

Re: Why no snow angels?

If you read some of the interviews with David Gordon Green and Stewart O'Nan they explain the meaning of the title, which isn't a literal snow angels, but more what they represent.

And as much as I loved the book, I loved the movie even more. It's my new favorite movie. The book is still amazing, though.




I'm Not There. I'm Gone.

Re: Why no snow angels?

Oh I definately plan to read more of O'Nans work. I am thinking of going with "The Good Wife" next. have you read this one?

that's interesting that they filmed the snow angels scene but decided to leave it out. i wonder what the reason for that would be. Still an incredible movie and I thought Sam Rockwell did a really great job as Glenn

Re: Why no snow angels?

I plan on reading The Good Wife after I read The Night Country.




I'm Not There. I'm Gone.

Re: Why no snow angels?

"I plan on reading The Good Wife after I read The Night Country."

I am currently reading 'The Night Country' and cannot put it down. I'm almost done. I did enjoy 'Snow Angels' but this one is so much better, in my opinion. 'The Good Wife' is next on my list.

Re: Why no snow angels?

Check out "A Prayer For The Dying" I am enjoying the novel so far.

Re: Why no snow angels?

I also expected one or two snow angels, due to the title...

Boycott movies that involve real animal violence! (and their directors too)
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