Jay (Justin Calen Chiang) has a dark secret: for a long time he has been stuck in a crippling depression, which he could only deal with by burning himself with a heated kitchen knife. He is trying to pull himself out of this dreary mood by re-establishing relationships with old friends, rebuilding communication with his sister Jem (Sharon Nao), and quitting the self-injury cold turkey.
But depression cannot always be cured simply by force of will, and going cold turkey on self-injury can be just as difficult as stopping drugs in the same manner. Without professional support, he soon falls back into old habits – especially those involving the mysterious Elephant Girl – a character of his imagination, who he vents his problems to.
Content
The Way of Snow has a very artistic feel to it. The movie starts out with a couple out-of-focus shots, which continue occasionally throughout the film. There’s a shot of the main character doing something in the kitchen, but as the audience can’t see what’s going on it’s a good hook to get them interested. (This is another form of “closed” framing, which creates suspense by showing only part of a scene, as opposed to “open” framing which shows all of the scene so there are no questions in the mind of the audience.) Initially I thought his actions might be drug-related, and I continued to think that for quite some time throughout the film until there was clear evidence of what Jay was actually doing. It’s hard to tell whether this is a good thing or not – on the one hand, one wants to keep the audience guessing and doesn’t want to beat them over the head with the main character’s issues. However, there don’t seem to be quite enough clues as to what his issues are. It also seems rather strange that Jay talks openly about his self-injury to friends and even relative strangers, yet his sister doesn’t seem to know that it’s even occurring. Most self-injurers are very good at hiding their actions from friends and family, who often have an inkling that something is wrong, but have very little concrete proof. There are many things that hint at self-injury, which perhaps ought to be included throughout the film to give more clues to an audience which may not know anything about this issue.
In keeping with the artistic theme, the film does move a bit slowly. One can tell that there is something wrong in Jay’s life, and that he is very definitely depressed, but there isn’t much plot development until later on. Additionally, as is often the case with filmmakers who choose to star in the film they have written and directed, the acting was not as convincing as it might have been if someone else had been cast. When you're dealing with a story that has deep personal meaning, it's often very difficult to cast someone else in the lead role. The irony is that you can actually get a more convincing portrayal of your script if you go to an actor who is not yourself. (The first feature length film I worked on had the same issue. The director and writer, who had an acting background, chose to star in the film. Unfortunately, he couldn't devote the attention he needed to directing and the attention to staying fully in character, so the final film suffered because of this.)
Because of the plot development and acting issues, it took a good fifteen to twenty minutes for me to realize that Jem was actually Jay’s sister. Also, certain themes aren’t addressed quite as well as they need to be, such as the issue of what happened to Jay and Jem’s parents, what both Jay and Jem do for a living, the church function that Jay attends, and the circumstances around which he meets Helen. While I get the sense that these issues may not have been developed in order to give the sense of disorder and dullness that covers the life of a depressive, it would still be wise to have a much more concrete structure to the film in order to keep the audience interested. It’s fine to choose a more meandering format, but the film ought to then be shortened to hold the interest of an audience who may not be used to the art film format.
The subplot of the “Elephant Girl” that Jay talks to is interesting, but also a little hard to understand. She is never clearly shown, but always out of focus, which gives the impression of her unreal state. Although I couldn’t quite tell what her purpose is – is she meant to symbolize Jay’s depression? (Which would explain why he leaves her at the end of the movie.) Is she an imaginary figure who he confides in in lieu of a real-life counselor; something like the character of Frank in the film Donnie Darko? Or does Jay perhaps have moments of psychosis in which he hears voices or sees apparitions? The latter isn’t especially common in those who are simply depressed, but there are some individuals who have the diagnosis of bipolar or schizophrenia who also happen to self-injure. It would be nice to have some sort of inkling as to what her role is, although, to return to the art-movie theme yet again, this doesn’t matter quite as much.
To keep the movie from being too dark, there are a few good moments of comic relief. First, there are a few interactions Jay has with his sister that involve a stuffed teddy bear, in which Jay makes a funny voice to represent that of the bear. Also, one really funny scene occurs where Jay questions his sister about her night of partying. She is very hung over, and only holds up her hand, using her fingers to give responses (one for yes, two for no, etc.). This was a great inclusion, as an audience watching this movie will need a bit of a periodic release of tension.
