Absolutely Brilliant!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Very good dark comedy set in unpopulated portion of Germany (I believe) in winter, taking place mostly in a large empty hotel. The very stark winter works exceptionally well with the subject matter of this film, which is the story of how two bungling low-level German hit men spiral into a mess of trouble. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that the fairly original plot develops pretty slowly for most American tastes, although it had no problem keeping my attention, especially given its many unpredictable plot twists. If you have some patience and let the plot develop some momentum, I think you will find that the story becomes quite compelling. About the only major negative comment I can make about this film is that it is devoid of likable characters--if you truly need somebody to root for, there's nobody here, with the possible exception of the least stupid hit-man, who is the lead character, and who you are obviously supposed to find sympathetic (although I personally didn't find myself very invested in his fate either). Unlike after nearly every Hollywood blockbuster, I actually felt like I consumed something intellectually nutritious here, so, for that alone, it deserves a high rating.

"Snowman's Land" is the second film written and directed by Tomasz Thomsen and came out almost 10 years after his first work "Stiller Sturm". The main character is played by Jürgen Rißmann and while I was occasionally not sure if he was boring or quietly convincing, as a whole, I liked his performance. It was a mix of the two characters mentioned in the title of my review. He also had nice physical presence. There were quite a few indicators of what is going to happen. For example when his young colleague (reminded me a bit of Pinkman in "Breaking Bad") tells he is unbreakable at one point, it was fairly obvious he is not gonna survive this movie. Same goes for the character played by Kanischtscheff. When he keeps rambling about how this is all gonna be his I felt that he will be killed off at some point as well.I personally enjoyed the first 30-45 minutes of this film the most. There is not really a lot happening, but the tension between the two contract killers and the woman is pretty interesting. When Berger enters the picture, it gets slightly worse, although I liked the idea that they wanted to try to kill him. However, he was faster. When they find the girl and Berger suspects somebody else, it all gets a bit weak and the best moments of the film had already passed. Especially that bald muscular guy all of a sudden knocking out Berger was so out of nowhere, certainly one plot twist too many. I'm not too big on the narrator either. The ending was a bit strange as Berger and the bald guy suddenly disappear and Rißmann's character actually manages to get into safety. It would have made sense if they, according to the title, would only have displayed what happened in the snowy forest area, but early on and also the final scene took place somewhere entirely different. Maybe too much of a forced happy ending for my taste.This film works best with its dark humor. The dramatic sequences were not that great mostly and it was not an outstanding thriller either, but that whole tongue-in-cheek approach is well done. That intro was pretty entertaining with the botched shooting. All in all, I recommend watching it. I just wish the second half of the film could have been half as superb as the first.

In the dark realm of comedic exposition, films come and go. Location is always a factor. Dark and cold tend to coexist as partners in a loop.(Think Fargo) And this film displays both the dark, in humor, and the cold within the setting.The emotional setting is clearly set in opening pieces to amusing extent. The acting and character development support this quite well.Soooooo..... Our aging, anti-hero,(a hit man) kills the wrong guy, in a botched job, and ruins his own dwindling reputation as a killer to the effect that he has been put to pasture. A former colleague offers him a job baby-sitting a former client that had been reported as dead. "Former" is an operative term here. Our guy accepts the job, stoically, and goes forth into the dark unknown of the wintered Carpathian mountains in Eastern Europe to fatefully encounter yet another former colleague whose wits seem at odds with his lack of...well...wit.They soon learn that all is not well in this frigid paradise, as a wonderfully cliché, gangster, bitch shows up and happens to enjoy being the clients toy. She has her own agenda and somehow becomes dead while our heroes are present. Sorry, no spoilers. That's the premise.Dark comedy ensues as loyalties consume all to twisted ends. The acting is quite good and direction is directed upon a cast and film crew that know their setting. Scripting seems fairly tight and is carried forth by the basic pivot of the whores death...Although, I feel this plot device may have been developed more in the intro to the setting. But then, she was caprice in a shell.All in all, a great romp and the dialog was well suited to the characters and situations. Only a European crew could do this the way it was done. I highly recommend this film to any fan of dark comedy, especially those with a mood for snow and ice, haha.

Snowman's Land is about a couple of hit men who are sent to a remote snow-bound house to fulfil an unspecified mission. While there they accidentally kill a crime-lord's wife and shortly after this, things begin to spiral out of control.This German crime film is essentially character driven. There are a number of quirky personalities who populate the narrative. And some humour is certainly derived from the interactions between these people. Most of the strength of the film comes from this, as the storyline is basically quite weak. The plot-line is extremely loose, where things happen and twists in the story occur with very little overall purpose. The interaction between the femme fatale and the hit men, for example, has the potential to lead the story into interesting territory but it never unfortunately really happens. Instead, her accidental murder more or less becomes an irrelevance and the story moves on into a less interesting direction. Generally speaking, the focus of the movie is very much more on deriving humour rather than thrills from the crime story framework.Snowman's Land is by no means a poor film; it's just one that could have been so much more. While it is funny and inventive at times, it is also a bit too unfocused for its own good too. Worth checking out if you like quirky crime comedies though.