The Girl in the Snow

1899, in the remote French Alps: Aimée is a young teacher assigned to educate the children of the tiny mountain village of Soudain, yet her arrival is not welcomed by all. The villagers are too suspicious of the modern teaching methods Aimée brings, intended to dispel the darkness in their minds. The people here are harsh, as harsh as the land and the winter itself, and although Aimée grits her teeth and faces the hard life, the old customs resist the progress she represents.
Then, the departure of an avalanche foreshadows inevitable catastrophe. Louise Hémon’s The »Girl in the Snow« inevitably recalls the dark folklore of »The Witch« and »The Devil’s Bath«. Rarely has the glare of snow and the dim interior of rustic huts been captured so dramatically as in Marine Atlans’ claustrophobic 4:3 imagery, while Emile Sornin’s sometimes dissonant musical score adds to the unsettling atmosphere. Masterful.