Snow Cake...

[fajrdrako]

Saw the movie Snow Cake this afternoon. It has the odd distinction of being the only movie I've ever seen set in Wawa, Ontario. I suspect it might be the only movie I ever will see set in Wawa, but who knows? I actually had to look at a map to remind myself where Wawa is. I had the right neck of the (literal) woods, though I'm not sure I could have placed it within 500 miles.

I wanted to watch it because Alan Rickman plays the lead role of Alex Hughes. Also because the other lead character, Linda Freeman (Sigourney Weaver), is autistic, and I am interested in autism, especially in seeing it depicted in movies and books.

The story: Alex Hughes is a quiet, introspective man, driving to Winnipeg on the trans-Canada highway when, at a truck-stop, he is approached by a voluble girl who badgers him into giving her a lift to Wawa. I was reminded of the scene in the first X-Men movie in which Rogue persuades Wolverine to let her hitch a ride with him - a scene which, coincidentally, I was watching on Friday because the kids in the Summer Drama Camp were watching it at lunchtime. As in X-Men, the car meets with an accident when a huge truck hits it. The car is totalled. Alex is just fine. The girl is killed.

So Alex goes to her home in Wawa to pay his condolences to her mother, Linda, before going on. But Linda is autistic, and it isn't the kind of conversation he expected. Stuggling with his own guilt and the baggage of his own past, Alex agrees to stay with Linda until after the funeral, and the story is about how the next few days unfold - his interaction with the people of Wawa, with Linda, and his feelings about himself.

So it's all psychological and social. Mostly a sad movie, but there were unexpected outbreaks of humour that made made me laugh out loud. Callum Keith Rennie gives a brilliant performance as the driver of the truck that killed Vivienne, and Cannie-Anne Moss is great as Linda's neighbour.

Though I enjoyed seeing it, I'm not sure the movie had much to say: glimpses of insight into other people's problems, grief and guilt and the difficulty in understanding high-functioning austistics. My favourite bit was probably a game of comic-book Scrabble played between Linda and Alex, where they make up the words and then make up usages for those words in terms of comic book stories. Linda obviously loved comic books, and loved Reed Richards - definitely raised her in my esteem.

Another treat: a cameo appearance from Susan Coyne and Mark McKinney from Slings and Arrows. (They played Anna and Richard.)

Alan Rickman takes so many high-powered roles (like in Die Hard and Harry Potter, I wondered why he took this role. Did something in the story interest him? Oddly, it seems to have been filmed not in the actual town of Wawa, but in Grosso Jackson, a place that seems to exist nowhere that Google can find except in references to this movie.

I never guessed that the title, Snow Cake, would have a literal meaning.

Comments

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

Consider reading the speed of dark (http://www.sfsite.com/03b/sd148.htm) by Elizabeth Moon. I thought it the most enlightening book ever read and decided to write my Phd on it, but I was manic at the time. Think it is still a pretty interesting read nevertheless.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have a copy of The Speed of Dark and plan to read it very soon. Thanks for the encouragement!

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

In a bizarre twist of fate, I went from having to ask you "what's Snow Cake?" the other day to watching it before you did. On Friday. ;P

I really enjoyed it. Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver were wonderful. I liked the way Alex's backstory, and the parallels between his son's death and Vivienne's, unfolded through his interactions with the other characters. And Callum was brilliant (if briefly!) as the truck driver - I knew, during the scene between his character and Alex outside Linda's house, that the man Alex had gone to prison for killing was the drunk driver who'd killed his son, and I liked it that I really couldn't predict what Alex was going to do when Callum's character came to Vivienne's funeral. I felt it could have gone in any direction at that point.

I think it made me realise something about grief and death. Basically that death is often tragic and pointless, but grieving excessively is also senseless and pointless. In that it doesn't help the person who's dead - nothing can. That sounds a bit trite and I'm not sure exactly how, but I think it's helped me to be just a little bit less afraid of the prospect of the death of loved ones. Maybe.

Another treat: a cameo appearance from Susan Coyne and Mark McKinney

Yes, that made me giggle. I love Anna. And I watched episode 4 of S&A series 1 today, with my mum - the one with Geoffrey's little stint in a prison cell. I love Geoffrey. Slightly differently from the way I love Anna. *g* My mum's hooked and and my series 3 dvds arrived yesterday, so we have a 14-episode run ahead of us. Whee!

And the snow cake was a wonderful touch - the thought that Alex had put into giving Linda a perfect present, and Linda's joy at every greedy mouthful. Dazlious! :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I went from having to ask you "what's Snow Cake?" the other day to watching it before you did. On Friday.

How wonderful! We had planned to watch it yesterday, but <;j user=maaseru> felt too tired, so we left it till today.

Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver were wonderful.

Wonderful acting from both of them. I think we were lucky to have had Rickman in it - the story would have been find with a lesser actor, but he gave it that added bit of depth and empathy that goes beyond the normal.

Yes, I loved the way some things were guessable - the way we learned that Alex wasn't lying or joking when he told Vivienne he'd killed someone, and then the say the circumstances paralleled - and you knew exactly who it must have been that the had killed - but I still couldn't predict how he would act, particularly with the truck driver. And I'd really, really be interested to know how his reunion with his old girlfriend in Winnipeg turns out.

I felt it could have gone in any direction at that point.

Yes, and I absolutely and totally loved the way it went.

I think it's helped me to be just a little bit less afraid of the prospect of the death of loved ones. Maybe.

That's good, then. I had another LJ friend die last week and it's been bothering me.... I'm not sure if I thought about that during the movie. I think it was great to see Linda's reactions to Vivienne's death, not "normal" reactions but you know she'd loved Vivienne and related to her in ways she couldn't relate to other people.

I love Anna.

How could anyone not love Anna? Whenever I think of her now, I think of her and the guys from - Guatamala? wherever it was - and chuckle. And her wonderful confrontation with Richard at the end of series 3.

I love Geoffrey. Slightly differently from the way I love Anna. *g*

Yeah, me too.

my series 3 dvds arrived yesterday

Beulah told me in no uncertain terms not to buy series 3 DVD so I think that means it'll be appearing as a birthday present. yay!

The wonderful thing about the snow cake was that it was a real physical thing he could leave behind that he knew, and we knew, that she would love - both the reality and the whimsy of it. Just perfect.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

the way we learned that Alex wasn't lying or joking when he told Vivienne he'd killed someone

I never thought he was joking. I did think that maybe he'd caused someone's death indirectly, but felt responsible.

And I'd really, really be interested to know how his reunion with his old girlfriend in Winnipeg turns out.

All the better for his sojourn in Wawa, I'd say.

I'm sorry to hear about your internet friend.

you know she'd loved Vivienne and related to her in ways she couldn't relate to other people.

Yes, and that Vivienne had loved her unreservedly, difficult though it must have been in some ways to have a mother who was so far from "normal".

It was Bolivia, wasn't it? Anna in S&A, I mean.

So, when's the birthday? Help me out here - I'm hopeless at remembering and REALLY WANT TO KNOW, ok?

Give my love to Beulah - of course she'd be a fan of S&A. And thanks, BTW, for the link to the Paul and Martha interview. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I never thought he was joking. I did think that maybe he'd caused someone's death indirectly, but felt responsible.

At first, I thought he was joking - and then that he was just trying to scare her out of wanting to be in the car with him.

All the better for his sojourn in Wawa, I'd say.

Probably!

difficult though it must have been in some ways to have a mother who was so far from "normal".

Yes. Lucky she had the grandparents to do the practical business of raising her (and taking out the trash till she was old enough). And probably Linda hadmaternal instincts that helped her make it possible to relate to her own child - or at least to listen to her in ways she couldn't listen to other people.

Bolivia - yes, that sounds right.

Birthday: Sept. 24. I don't immediately remember yours, either.

Give my love to Beulah - of course she'd be a fan of S&A

Ever since I invited her over and made her watch it! And yes, of course she loved it. She's a big fan of Paul Gross. (Equally 'of course'.) You might be interested in an article that auriaephiala sent me about it - it's too long for an LJ comment so I'll email it to you. It says they did use the real Wawa for the setting - I'd have been surprised if they hadn't.

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

This sounds very interesting -- thank you! I like Rickman and Waever a lot, and enjoyed the one performance I saw of CKR's, so I'll have to see if I can find it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's turning up in specialty theatres - and should be out on DVD - who knows? yes, it's a very interesting story. And the acting is first class.

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

I found it on DVD on Amazon, but it's not in my budget. Still, I suspect it will show up soon on satellite TV, maybe on IFC (Independent Film Channel). I think that's where I saw the film with Sandra Oh and CKR.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That sounds likely. I hope it does.

[laitosto.livejournal.com]

I was also going to suggest "The Speed of Dark", but someone else beat me to it. It is not fiction, but very interesting:

http://www.amazon.com/Animals-Translation-Mysteries-Autism-Behavior/dp/0156031442/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-1672816-5783017?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185192335&sr=8-2

by Temple Grandin. She is autistic with a Phd in Animal Behavior. I heard her on an interview program on public radio and found it just fascinating.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Another interesting book! I'd like to have seen Temple Grandin's interview. Thanks for the link.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Thank you. This left me somewhat speechless. I need to watch this movie. I, too, wonder why Alan Rickman (and Sigourney Weaver) took on this movie.

Wondering... knowing high-functioning autism as I know you do, did you find Linda realistically done...?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I need to watch this movie

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it when I do.

I, too, wonder why Alan Rickman (and Sigourney Weaver) took on this movie.

auriaephiala send me an interesting interview with Rickman from the local paper (the Sudbury paper, I think) about making the movie and his reactions to living for a few weeks in Wawa. I'll pass it on to you. He doesn't really explain why he took the role but clearly it was something he wanted to do - and needless to say, he is very, very good. I won't know whether Sigourney Weaver has a personal interest (like an autistic friend or relative) but I can imagine she saw it as a fasctinating acting challenge. She's done romantic leads and action heroes and so on. This is something different again.

did you find Linda realistically done...?

At first I thought 'no'. For one thing, though Linda was quite verbal, I didn't think she was that high-functioning. It was clear she couldn't raise her own child, or hold a job, or speak civilly to the neighbours. She couldn't function independently - she only had a house because her parents had given it to her. She could mostly cope but - this is a major plot point - she really couldn't cope to the point of truly living on her own. She was quite verbal, and intelligent, and capable in many ways, but not self-sufficient. There were some things she just couldn't do. From my position as armchair psychologist I'd have said her problem was Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as much as autism.

And I thought she wiggled too much.

That being said, as the movie continued, there were more and more things she said and did that seemed right. I loved it when she was playing in the snow, and on the trampoline, and the Scrabble game is magnificent - I loved her evident love of comic books. Some bits of her behaviour and attitude seemed spot on, like her love of 'sparklies' and her sense of humour and her tendency to be judgemental of others.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

At first I thought 'no'. For one thing, though Linda was quite verbal, I didn't think she was that high-functioning. It was clear she couldn't raise her own child, or hold a job, or speak civilly to the neighbours. She couldn't function independently - she only had a house because her parents had given it to her. She could mostly cope but - this is a major plot point - she really couldn't cope to the point of truly living on her own.

Try to think of it as a continuum, with "high functioning" and "low functioning" not as a dichotomy (neurotypical people seem to need dichotomies at all times, I'm finding) but as general labels in the vicinity of a person's inner reality.

Autistics who can talk are usually given HFA labels, as being verbal is apparently one defining criterion of that.

Whether you can be appropriately verbal or not... well!

As for not being able to funciton independently -- that's the autism part. Society is a mystery within which the person is lost, however hard they want to deal with it.

She was quite verbal, and intelligent, and capable in many ways, but not self-sufficient. There were some things she just couldn't do.

Me, too. That last point, I mean. I hide these. Otherwise, I'd be taken as much more autistic than I am. (This is both beneficial and harmful: now I get people saying, "You? You're not autistic! Don't try to pull that crap with me.") We can get used to doing some of these things by rote if we have the chance to "practice" them enough. If the circumstances deviate, however, we can lose our grip instantly. Did this happen to her...?

From my position as armchair psychologist I'd have said her problem was Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as much as autism.

And I thought she wiggled too much.

It looks like that at first, if a person has a lot of self-regulatory physical or behavioral things, but in reality those things serve the very real purpose of making sure that the person can stay safely within a predcitable routine most of the time. Say I get to the bank but the teller won't take my pennies and give me bills, because I put them into rolls but she does nto believe that I counted right and so insists that I open the rolls and count them again. Which I do. And as soon as I get back outside, I defuse the stress of that situation (which involved the teller's talking down to me and being short with me, and also other people's stares and possibly comments) by standing in one place for ten minutes while a flick my gaze over and over again to the flag on the top of the building across the street. How weird and pathological does that make me look?...but it serves to re-situate me back into a mental state where I feel capable of turning and walking down the sidewalk to the bus stop, and wiaitng for the right bus, and having the right fare, and getting a seat, and then getting off at the right stop.

They are thoughtlessly called "self-stimulatory behaviors," but the more accurate term would be "self-regulatory behaviors," as not all of them serve to stimulate hypo-sensitive senses, but sometimes to calm down hyper-sensitive senses, or to provide a safety valve out of which can flow all that pent-up unwanted uncomfortable energy from just having had a bad experience with someone or something.

If "she wiggled too much," she was portraying an autistic person quite truthfully.

You don't see me do that because I am so hypersensitive to other people's stares that they feel like physical touches, which I do not like unless I invite them (and so on), but I do have self-regulatory behaviors, many of them. Maybe some of them are just as obvious as the wiggling. Dunno! Only you could say.

Thank you for your honest and insightful comments.

correction

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

(neurotypical people seem to need dichotomies at all times, I'm finding)

Sorry. That one slipped through. I of course meant, often.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Try to think of it as a continuum, with "high functioning" and "low functioning" not as a dichotomy (neurotypical people seem to need dichotomies at all times, I'm finding) but as general labels in the vicinity of a person's inner reality.

Uh... I don't think I understand that sentence. I do think of it as a continuum. If there's a scale of 'functioning' I would think 'high functioning' would be near the top where people can live autonomously and still survive. Linda is described as 'high functioning' but I don't think she could have lived without help. This is part of the plot - she gets Alex to stay with her a few days because she needs him to take out the trash on Tuesday.

I'm not sure how the inner reality would have been different. She knew she couldn't do it.

If the circumstances deviate, however, we can lose our grip instantly. Did this happen to her...?

She wasn't able to hide how different she was, if that's what your question means. Did she lose her grip? Yes. Numerous times.

Yes, I'm sure the 'self-regulatory behaviours' and OCD have a lot of overlap. I'm not arguing that they don't. You asked me about the movie, and I just said what my reactions were to the behaviour shown. Linda in the movie reminded me more of a young man I once knew with OCD than she reminded me of you. I'm saying I don't know how accurate the movie was, or wasn't, just stating my impressions. For instance, Linda was very mobile and I don't recall any point in the movie where she was still. I might be forgetting - and I don't mean that the movie would show her being still for ten minutes, just that stillness was never a noticeable part of her behaviour. I remember her as being almost constantly in motion.

Though they never dealt with the specific subject, I think it was implied that Linda wouldn't be able to go into a bank and deal with the teller - she'd have got her daughter (or her parents) to do it for her. She didn't go out of the house much. Which is the sort of thing I mean by saying she wasn't self-sufficient.

Re: correction

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

(neurotypical people seem to need dichotomies at all times, I'm finding)

Er wot? I didn't mean it was a dichotomy of low functioning/high functioning, I meant I don't understand what the criteria are for either and the words 'high functioning' were used in the movie. I would have thought a high functioning autistic was one who could live on her own and handle most of her own survival needs. If language use is the criteria, then yes, Linda was verbal, though she seemed to have little sense of the usages of conversation. She usually didn't listen to Alex when he tried to talk to her, especially if it was about something important to him. In fact, most of her verbalizations tended to consist of telling other people what to do, or what not to do. "Take off your shoes. Don't go into the kitchen. Don't touch anything." That kind of thing. She was also starving the poor dog because all she fed him was bananas.

I dislike it when you make generalizations about neurotypical people just as much as you dislike it when people make generalizations about neuro-atypical people.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I apologize for not being as clear as I wanted to be -- sorry!

"High-functioning autism" does not have anything to do with how well the person can function in society. It means only that the person can interact verbally, usually also meaning that the person can be expected to talk and not just write notes & such.

As the movie apparently showed quite accurately, a HFA person can be totally helpless in the midst of their own life. Or not. There are gradations. As you already understand, and again I apologize if I seemed to be lecturing you about that... so sorry.

Your observations on this movie were fascinating. Thank you, again.

Re: correction

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Sigh. See, even when I try to correct accidental phrasings, I get stuck in saying stuff I wasn't trying to say. Maybe I'm not so HF as I currently want to belive I am.

When I am caught between wanting to convey a thought, and not at that moment being verbal enough to do so accurately, but I go ahead and try to say it anyway... well, long list of people I've ticked off with my "narrow-mindedness." My "generalizations" are just fuck-ups in assigning words to the much-broader thoughts. And I should just shut up, before I upset you even more... sorry, what else can I say, sorry.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ah. Thank you for explaining.

Re: correction

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about it - I just didn't understand what you were trying to say.