AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Leofwine_draca TREASURES OF THE SNOW is a long-forgotten independent family film, made in Britain and shot in Switzerland. The story is about a put-upon kid who accidentally causes a near-fatal accident and subsequently finds himself ostracised from society as a result. He eventually is forgiven after undergoing a journey of understanding and friendship. This is very much a morality play with Christian undertones and a lot of innocent talk and character development that may feel a bit twee to the cynical mindset of a modern viewer. It's okay, but a bit overlong and a bit talky.

Lionel_Twain I have never read the book, but I have watched this film several times. It is a wonderful story about a young boy who makes a poor decision that affects another young boy and his family in a big way. It contains valuable Christian messages of the importance of forgiveness, honesty and redemption.I am not sure which film user "ksneath" watched, but there is no synthesized music whatsoever in this film. Perhaps they confused the sound of a bass guitar and simple drums with a synthesizer. They could have chosen a better score, but I did not find the music distracting any more than other late 70's early 80's scores. However, ksneath suggests that the film would have been better with no soundtrack at all, and I would agree. User "rabbitmoon" does not seem to be able to recognize that this story was written in a different time. Even as late as the film was created, in 1980, the times were still different. I was seven years old in 1980 and the interaction between the young boy and the old wood carver were accurate depictions of similar relationships that I had with elders near me. Rabbitmoon takes umbrage with the fact that the old man confessed to having robbed a bank many years ago. What the user seems to miss is the fact that the old man confesses his crime to the boy in order to teach him a lesson about right, wrong, restitution and redemption. This is a Christian film and such themes are the heart of the Gospel; forgiveness and salvation for sinners (i.e. people who have made very bad decisions). Moses was a murderer as was Paul (Saul), the hunter of Christians before his conversion.There were two old men in my neighborhood that I spent a great deal of time with. They both taught me things about working with wood and I had spent much time in their basement shops or back yards; even going to lumberyards with them. I knew one by his last name and I didn't know the other man's name and my parents never met either of them, but they knew that I was spending time with them. I was seven or eight years old when I met those men.The old man in the film was a mentor and friend to the boy and their interactions were completely appropriate. It can only be interpreted otherwise by younger people who have no memories of those more innocent times.

rabbitmoon I watched this at school when I was 9, and remember it being "amazing". So 24 years later, I track it down with the following memories: a) it might feature the word snow in the title, b) a boy looks down a train track and says "it's your fault. It's all your fault". c) said boy accidentally kills someone, and then carves wooden animals from his guilt/shame outcast life. I managed to track it down, and watch the last nostalgic relic from my childhood. Did it live up to my expectations? No! Whilst watchable for nostalgia's sake, there are many disturbing things about this film. The soundtrack is completely inappropriate. The acting is dreadful - the girl can even be seen laughing in the corner of one shot whilst her grandma tells her something "important". A man scales a cliff-face to find his son twisted up and looking dead at the bottom - to which he says "Danny, Danny are you OK?" in a light-hearted voice. Far worse though, is that any moral goodness in the religious story is completely swamped and buried under bizarre contrived acts. We're expected to believe that its good that a boy ditches school and shacks up with an old man, a stranger, who confesses to be a criminal. When the boy suggests leaving, the man persuades him to stay, being his "only friend". What kind of message is this sending out to children? Other contrivances send the story into sentimental overload, so much so that the main point of the morality seemed to unravel in favour of "feel good" factor. I don't even know if I would show this to children now. In hindsight, I found it strange watching it as a child. You're asked to root for the guilty kid, and this made me feel a confused sense of guilt, shame and sadness as well for absolutely no reason.

ksneath Having read this book as a kid and never having seen the movie, I recently rented this with high expectations for a wholesome family film with beautiful characters and scenery.After seeing the film, I find it rather difficult to judge. It begs a balancing of the good and the bad.THE GOOD: The on-location scenery-- Beautiful shots of true Alpine mountains.The acting by the children, while not perfect, is above average. The kids act as kids would, not like Hollywood fantasy "little grown ups".The faithfulness to the story's main elements is commendable. The film also gets better near the end which helps save it somewhat.THE BAD: The terrible, distracting, synthesized music. A score should seamlessly blend with a film and add to the mood, whatever that may be. This film would be better suited without a soundtrack at all! The music is often intrusive, conveys moods opposite those of the story, and is terribly synthetic -- not the type of music you want for a traditional religious story that takes place in the majestic beauty of the Alps!The small families up in the Alps all seem to be living in gigantic, expansive, lodge-like cabins! This really cut the realism of the story for me and took away from the intimate setting of the circumstances.The acting, script, and character development of the elders in the film, especially the woodcarver and the grandmother is lacking.VERDICT: The thing that really holds this movie together is the underlying story by Patricia St. John. It is a powerful one with valuable lessons to children -- and adults as well. Without it, this film wouldn't have been watchable. With it, it holds interest despite numerous shortcomings. I give it a 7 out of 10 because of the unusual, powerful lessons it offers. Without the excellent basis from St. John, this could easily be a 4.