First Snowfall

This Italian submission (English captions) to the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival was directed by Andrea Segre; it offered several things:

• Endless shots of lovely forested areas in the Italian Alps, some looking straight up to the tree tops.
• People walking and running through lovely forested areas.
• Boys walking and running through lovely forested areas.
• A couple of quick little naps during which I didn't seem to lose track of the story, which basically was: boy loses father, boy finds father figure, boy loses father figure, boy gets father figure.

I realize this is harsh; there was a great deal of care and talent invested in this project, but I lost patience part way in. I feel fairly certain that the main focus of the film was supposed to be the man hired by the beekeeper, but the boy was on screen far more often.

The cast:

• Paolo Pierobon is Gus, the fatherless boy.
• Matteo Marchel is Michelle, his widowed (and lonely) mother.
• Jean-Christophe Folly is Dani, a war veteran from Togo, seeking asylum.
• Peter Mittenrrutzner is Pietro, the grizzled beekeeper who employs Dani.

Grandpa understands the boy and realizes how important a father is to a family. Gus can sleep without his recurring nightmares when he is with Grandpa. I just lost interest.