Frozen Silence (2012)

As Good As It Gets

A Masterpiece!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Good thriller in which a soldier (Juan Diego Botto) and a sergeant (Carmelo Gomez) investigate a series of murdered bodies . As a serial killer is on the loose , among the Spanish soldiers who are fighting alongside the Germans against the Russian on the Eastern front . The only clue is a part of Spanish nursery rhyme that is carved into the chest of the victims . A battalion of the as called Blue Division encounters a series of horses' heads scattered on the frozen surface of a lake . The bodies are submerged beneath the ice and mounted on one of the horses , the body of a Spanish soldier. A pit pierced his neck from side to side, and the shoulder has an inscription to the sword: "Have I not see God" . The high command (Adolfo Fernández) assigns the investigation to private Arturo Andrade , a former police inspector , the task is seemingly impossible but he takes the job with precision and professionalism . Arthur believes that the murder is related to Masonry . It is also extremely difficult for Arturo , being a simple soldier , to discover a murder within the military hierarchy , during wartime , as he finds out a diabolical master plan that may lead to the very top of the chain of command . The film also deals with ¨Blue División¨ , officially designated as División Española De Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and 250 Infanterie-Division in the German Army , it was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served in the German Army on the Eastern Front . In 1942-1943 ,it was transferred north to the southeastern flank of the Leningrad siege . After the collapse of the German southern front following the Battle of Stalingrad , more German troops were deployed southwards . By this time, General Emilio Esteban Infantes had taken command . The Blue Division faced a major Soviet attempt to break the siege of Leningrad in February 1943, when the 55th Army of the Soviet forces, reinvigorated after the victory at Stalingrad, attacked the Spanish positions at the Battle of Krasny Bor . Despite heavy casualties, the Spaniards were able to hold their ground against a Russian force seven times larger and supported by tanks. The assault was contained and the siege of Leningrad was maintained for a further year. The division remained on the Leningrad front where it continued to suffer heavy casualties due to weather and to enemy action. When Franco dispatched more reinforcements, this time it included conscripts as well as volunteers. Through rotation, as many as 45,482 Spanish soldiers served on the Eastern Front . They were awarded both Spanish and German military awards, and were the only division to be awarded a medal of their own, commissioned by Hitler. Eventually, the Allies and conservative Spanish began to press Franco for the withdrawal of troops from the Eastern Front quasi-alliance with Germany. Franco initiated negotiations in the spring of 1943 and gave an order of withdrawal . Some Spanish soldiers refused to return. While some believed that Franco gave his unofficial blessing as long as their number was below 1,500, on November 3, 1943 the Spanish government ordered all troops to return to Spain . In the end, the total of "non returners" was close to 3,000 men, mostly Falangists. Spaniards also joined other German units, mainly the Waffen-SS, and fresh volunteers slipped across the Spanish border near Lourdes in occupied FranceThis is a good suspense movie with offbeat and surprising scenarios . This is a murder mystery set in the WWII in which the main premise results to be the following : How do you find out a cunning, vicious series killer who hideously mutilates and carves with bizarre symbols and messages , amidst the misery , crossfire and chaos . It packs an uneven plot that relies heavily on the relationship among Juan Diego Botto and Carmelo Gomez . The movie is exhilarating in its visual approach , including thrills , chills , intrigue , plot twists , and spectacular wartime spectacle . Nice acting by Juan Diego Botto as Arturo , a world-weary police inspector, now serving his country in the brutal regime of the military . And amiable performance from Carmelo Gomez as Espinosa , an astute sergeant who helps Inspector-soldier Arturo Andrade . Support cast is frankly well such as Victor Clavijo , Sergi Calleja , Jorge De Juan Adolfo Fernández , and Andrés Gertrúdix .Colorful and evocative cinematography by Alfredo Mayo , being filmed on location in Lithuania ; Mayo is considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen , he has photographed known titles as ¨Barrio¨, The method¨, ¨High heels¨, ¨Kika¨ , ¨Mondays in the sun¨ , "The Galíndez File" ¨Kamchatka¨, "The Place That Was Paradise" , among others . Thrilling as well as atmospheric musical score by Lucio Godoy who has composed a lot of attractive soundtracks . Godoy had many successes such as ¨Blackthorn¨, All about my mother¨, ¨The others¨, ¨Amador¨ ,¨Girasoles Ciegos¨ , ¨Mataharis¨ and many others . The motion picture was professionally produced and directed by Gerardo Herrero . Gerardo is a famous producer as well as filmmaker . He was President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1994-1994) . Great producer of big hits , being especially known for The Secret of your ears (2009), Sin Retorno (2010) , Balada Triste de Trompeta (2010) , Crimenes De Oxford (2008) and El Hijo De La Novia (2001). He also directed some good films such as ¨Corredor Nocturno¨ , ¨Principio Arquímedes¨ , ¨Crimen Galindez¨ , ¨Frontera Sur¨, ¨Territorio Comanche¨ , ¨Desvio a Paraíso¨ , ¨Al Acecho¨ and ¨Heroína¨ . Despite some failure and gaps , I must admit that I enjoyed this movie and recommend it to those who love thrillers .

Soldiers find a dead Spanish soldier frozen in the icy battlefield. Private Arturo Andrade astutely notices that the guy did not freeze to death, but was murdered in a ritualistic manner. Arturo was then assigned to lead the investigation, that led him a complicated maze of Nazism, Freemasonry and Russian Roulette.The time period was very interesting. 1943, during World War II at a time when Spanish soldiers were fielded to serve in Nazi Germany. However, that piece of history turned out to be nothing more than an elaborate backdrop.The start of this film was so beautifully shot and the development of the story in the first half of the film was so tense and well-done. However, when we get to the second half, I do not know what happened, but suspense that built up all and the patience you have invested in trying to get to the bottom of this mystery collapse like a failed soufflé and go to waste.

It's interesting someone use as background to his narrative one aspect that most want to forget. The presentation of a thriller with the background given by the participation of the Blue Division in World War II allows the director to skip the obvious ideological implications and to present, however, an important part of the history of Spain. But unfortunately this is the only merit of the film. The performances are uneven, but are acceptable in the context of an idea or clever narrative presented in innovative ways, as the latter does not occur even the good performances are diluted. The plot is held until the outcome has to be solved, and the outcome is poor, simplistic and devoid of any emotional impact. The effort of costumes is valuable, but the value of production falls dramatically when using badly the obvious limits of a short budget. Maybe have been wiser to use the limited mount of powder that were available to make a convincing explosion in the only place that was necessary for the narrative and not a string of micro-explosions resulting almost pathetic. The wink that makes to the stereotype Nazi evil-murderer, probably with the sole purpose of to be nice with those who could not see with good eyes a film focused on the active participation of Spanish volunteers on the wrong side, as history tells us , could be accepted considering that every film needs funding, but it is less acceptable that support the whole plot, making it obvious and not very sustainable from logic. Understanding that the director make a huge effort to avoid by all means that his movie looks like pro Falangist, for sure he want to continue filming in the future, it too exceeds to present Spanish soldiers in a very Hollywood logic "horrible war that I do here," forgetting the immense historical fact that all who were enrolled in the Blue Division were volunteers, nationalist and Falangist, who considered themselves as part of a crusade of new type. In conclusion, and this is the meaning of this review, I advise you watch the movie with great generosity, especially valuing the fact that someone dares to tell a story accepting that there was also a B-side in WWII that is equally valid as background for human stories, but having clear that neither the human nor the story here presented have outstanding intrinsic qualities, and the director, less that all of them.

The discovery of dead horses and a Spanish soldier's corpse under a frozen lake in the Russian front(with their heads visible over the ice, like in Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg") triggers an investigation lead by a former Spanish police inspector, now serving in the German army."Silencio en la nieve" tells a fictional story based on a real scenario: the presence of Spanish citizens in the German army during the WWII under the name "División azul". Albeit most of this soldiers were of extremely right-wing ideals, others were adventure junkies or even left-winged persons sent to the Russian front in order to help their politically imprisoned relatives.Curiously there are only brief hints about that in Gerardo Herrero's excellent movie, which doesn't judge or excuse the character's ideals. This is practically an untold story in the annals of Spanish film history (nobody wants to film the exploits of military men who sided with Hitler), but we will have to wait for a war film about this subject (Spanish movie industry has no money for that, Gerardo Herrero dixit), because "Silencio en la nieve" is a murder mystery, and a well crafted one. The acting is superb, specially Carmelo Gómez. On a technical level, some of the special effects needed more budget (a couple of explosions seemed very CGI to me), but these problems are usual in Spanish cinema, and they are approached professionally here.Eventually, viewers should consider "Silencio en la nieve" for what it is: well done, although not original, thriller yarn, using a fresh and never seen background. Highly recommended!