Frozen Silence

{{Infobox film

| image = Frozen Silence poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| based_on = {{Based on|El tiempo de los emperadores extraños|Ignacio del Valle}}

| starring = {{ubl|Juan Diego Botto|Carmelo Gómez|Jordi Aguilar|Gabrielė Malinauskaitė|Rafa Castejón|Jorge de Juan|Francesc Orella|Sergi Calleja|Adolfo Fernández|Carlos Blanco|Andrés Gertrúdix}}

| language = {{ubl|Spanish|Russian|German}}

| country = {{ubl|Spain|Lithuania}}

| released = {{Film date|2012|01|20|Spain|df=yes}}

| cinematography = Alfredo Mayo

| editing = Cristina Pastor

| music = Lucio Godoy

| studio = {{ubl|Tornasol Films|Castafiore Films|Foresta Films|Zebra Producciones|Lietuvos Kino Kinostudija}}

| budget = €5.2 million

| gross = €0.4 million

| distributor = Alta Classics ({{Smallcaps|{{Abbr|es|Spain}}}})

}}

Frozen Silence ({{langx|es|Silencio en la nieve|links=no|lit=Silence in the Snow}}) is a 2012 Spanish-Lithuanian war-time mystery thriller directed by Gerardo Herrero which stars Juan Diego Botto as inspector Arturo Andrade and Carmelo Gómez as a fascist fellow Blue Division member, with both investigating a series of killings in the midst of the Winter in the eastern theatre of World War II. The screenplay by Nicolás Saad is an adaptation of Ignacio del Valle's novel El tiempo de los emperadores extraños.

Plot

Eastern Front of World War II. Winter of 1943. The discovery of the corpse of a soldier with a blood inscription on the chest made with a knife (the start of a series or ritual killings) near Leningrad haunts a battalion of the Blue Division, the unit dispatched by the Francoist dictatorship to help Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in World War II. Private Arturo Andrade (a former police inspector and someone with a shrouded past suggested to be damning from an ideological standpoint){{Sfn|Viscarri|2015|p=248}} and fascist sergeant Espinosa team up to crack the mystery, which turns up to be related to a Masonic lodge in Valencia. The film ends with the beginning of the Battle of Krasny Bor.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Juan Diego Botto as Arturo Andrade{{Cite web|url=https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/mas_actualidad/cultura/carmelo_gomez_juan_diego_botto_protagonizan_silencio_nieve_65353_1034.html|date=17 January 2012|title=Carmelo Gómez y Juan Diego Botto protagonizan 'Silencio en la nieve'|website=Diario de Navarra}}
Francesc Orella as Zarauza
{{ill|Adolfo Fernández (actor)|es|lt=Adolfo Fernández}} as Navajas
Carmelo Gómez as sargento Espinosa
Jordi Aguilar as cabo Aparicio
Víctor Clavijo as sargento Estrada / Ferrer{{Sfn|Viscarri|2015|pp=247–248}}
Andrés Gertrúdix as Guerrita
Sergi Calleja as Tiroliro
Toni Hernández as Servando
Manu Hernández as Pablito
Javier Mejía as capitán Larios
Gabrielė Malinauskaitė as Zira{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrytas.lt/zmones/tv-antena/2012/07/22/news/lietuve-g-malinauskaite-nusifilmavo-aistringame-garsaus-ispanu-rezisieriaus-filme-4812656|website=Lrytas|title=Lietuvė G. Malinauskaitė nusifilmavo aistringame garsaus ispanų režisieriaus filme|date=22 July 2012}}
Carlos Blanco{{Cite web|url=http://www.radioobradoiro.com/portada/ro/carlos-blanco-convidado-hoxe-estamos-cine/idEdicion-2012-01-20/idNoticia-724474|website=Radio Obradoiro|title=Carlos Blanco, convidado de hoxe en 'Estamos de cine'|date=20 January 2012}}
Rafa Castejón as comandante Isart{{Sfn|Viscarri|2015|p=247}}
Jorge de Juan{{Cite web|url=https://www.laopiniondemurcia.es/cultura/2012/01/29/carne-escenario-actuando-o-dirigiendo-32660368.html|website=La Opinión de Murcia|date=29 January 2012|title="Soy carne de escenario, esté actuando o dirigiendo"|first=Ana|last=Guardiola|publisher=Prensa Ibérica}}
Alex Spijksma

}}

Production

Written by Nicolás Saad, the screenplay is an adaptation of {{ill|Ignacio del Valle (writer)|es|Ignacio del Valle|lt=Ignacio del Valle's}} El tiempo de los emperadores extraños, part of a tetralogy of novels featuring inspector Arturo Andrade.{{Cite journal|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/159578406.pdf|page=244|title=Silencio en la nieve y la rehistorización fílmica de la experiencia divisionaria|first=Dionisio|last=Viscarri|journal=España Contemporánea: Revista de Literatura y Cultura|issn=0214-1396|volume=24–25|issue=1–2|year=2015}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtve.es/television/20160114/silencio-nieve-thriller-apasionante-version-espanola/1284191.shtml|website=rtve.es|date=14 January 2016|title='Silencio en la nieve', un thriller apasionante en Versión Española}} A Spanish-Lithuanian co-production, the film was produced by Tornasol Films, Castafiore Films, Foresta Films, Zebra Producciones, and Lietuvos kino studija. Shooting locations included Alicante's Ciudad de la Luz as well as Lithuania.{{Cite web|url=https://www.europapress.es/comunitat-valenciana/noticia-cultura-pelicula-silencio-nieve-rodada-ciudad-luz-alicante-estrena-madrid-20120119200322.html|website=Europa Press|date=19 January 2012|title=La película 'Silencio en la nieve', rodada en Ciudad de la Luz de Alicante, se estrena en Madrid}}{{Cite web|url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2012/01/19/album/1326985425_099017.html#foto_gal_8|website=El País|title='Silencio en la nieve'|first=Álvaro P.|last=Ruiz de Elvira|date=19 January 2012}}

Release

Distributed by Alta Classics, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 20 January 2012.{{cite web|access-date=12 November 2012|url=https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-190102/|website=Sensacine|title=Silencio en la nieve}} Except for a few specific milieus (including specialised critics and the {{lang|es|divisionistas}}, those larping the memory of the Blue Division without having been a member), it was met with general apathy.{{Sfn|Viscarri|2015|p=260}} While it managed to enter as the fourth highest-grossing film at the Spanish box office in its opening weekend (albeit with a modest €195,000), it underperformed throughout its theatrical run, grossing €406,843{{Sfn|Viscarri|2015|pp=259–260}} (against a €5.2 million budget) and was cited among the Spanish productions with more in-year losses.{{Sfn|Viscarri|2015|pp=259–260}}

Critical reception

Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film to be an "ambitious, multilayered thriller", considering that despite an excess of labored dialogue and elements crammed into some plotlines, the film manages to successfully blend "genre excitement with historical intrigue", otherwise singling it out as the best feature by Herrero since The Galíndez File.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2012/film/reviews/silence-in-the-snow-1117946916/|website=Variety|title=Silence in the Snow|first=Jonathan|last=Holland|date=24 January 2012}}

Alfonso Rivera of Cineuropa wrote about the film's atmosphere, "rarefied and marred not only because of the murders that reek of revenge, sadism and depravity, but also the little attachment to life of some soldiers, the internal corruption of the troops, the solitude devoid of feelings that is suffered in such circumstances and the desperate search for answers to something that has no reason to be".{{Cite web|first=Alfonso|last=Rivera|website=Cineuropa|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/213995/|date=11 January 2012|title=Frozen Silence}}

Sergi Sánchez of La Razón gave the film a negative review, considering that the film does not work "because the execution is as flat as an ironing board. Because the dialogues are contrived. [And] Because the performances [except for Sergi Calleja's] are affected".{{Cite web|url=https://www.larazon.es/historico/2752-la-sangre-de-los-inocentes-FLLA_RAZON_428320/|website=La Razón|first=Sergi|last=Sánchez|title=La sangre de los inocentes|date=20 January 2012}}

Irene Crespo of Cinemanía rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, summing it up as a "careful production and interesting thriller in the cold Russian front".{{Cite web|website=Cinemanía|via=20minutos|first=Irene|last=Crespo|date=20 January 2012|title=Silencio en la nieve|url=https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/criticas/silencio-en-la-nieve-18709/}}

Accolades

| align = "center" rowspan = "2" | 2012 || rowspan = "2" | 21st Actors and Actresses Union Awards || Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role || Carmelo Gómez || {{nom}} || rowspan = "2" | {{Cite web|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/a482963/xxi-premios-de-la-union-de-actores/|website=Fotogramas|title=XXI Premios de la Unión de Actores|date=7 June 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/a484059/xxi-premios-de-la-union-de-actores2/|website=Fotogramas|title=XXI Premios de la Unión de Actores|date=19 June 2012}}

| Best Film Actor in a Minor Role || Víctor Clavijo || {{nom}}