New Year’s Day (1999)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Film: B-

 

 

A group of friends go out on a holiday skiing trip, only to be overtaken by an avalanche in New Year’s Day (1999), a decent drama about the catastrophe and how two young men deal with the loss of their Black Female and how they intend to fulfill her wishlist in a wishlist book she left behind.  Marianne Jean-Baptiste (see Secrets & Lies elsewhere on this site) is the counselor who tries to help the young survivors who were there recover.  Steven (Bobby Barry) & Jake (Andrew Lee Potts) start to behave badly, take drugs and keep playing with the idea of death.  Jacqueline Bisset, Michael Kitchen (Foyle’s War), and Sue Johnson also star in a well-cast film.

 

Director Suri Krishnamma has an interesting situation, but instead of just succeeding or failing with it, goes with it and the results are always interesting to watch, even when they are not totally successful.  Ralph Brown’s screenplay has some good ideas, but they are not always realized and it misses the warmth of something like Permanent Record, but is never dull or totally predictable. 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is not bad, but there is intentional videotape footage that is very degraded and almost annoying.  Otherwise, the cinematography by John De Borman, B.S.C., is better than what we usually get in such dramas.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has healthy Pro Logic-type surrounds and the film all around has sonic clarity.  Julian Nott’s original score has its moments and is never intrusive.  The hit songs are an interesting mix, though the great U2 song is not one of them.  The only extra here is four trailers for other Strand DVD titles, but more on this film would have been very interesting.  Either way, New Year’s Day is definitely worth a look, and deserves it for being as ambitious as it is.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo