Lauren Achtemeier: Cold Fever

The starkness of the landscape in Cold Fever and its effect upon Hirata was an example of the awe attributed to nature and to God. While watching the film, even I was influenced by the presence of the winter landscape. Its effect upon Hirata was then life changing, since it effectively stripped him of much his sense of self. This is because a businessman and all skills that come with that have nothing on the bitter cold. Hirata was completely subjected to the whim of nature, which was unsettling for him. This lack of stability was not very comfortable, which is often the case. All people experience lacks of stability in life, and getting through such an experience is what helps shape us to be stronger individuals. Just large of the world such as Japan or the United are civilized, does not mean nature does not still exist as dominant in other parts of the world. In fact, even in the United States nature still dominates of people, but most people are not exposed to these places. I was surprised by Virginia’s large amounts of rural and natural areas being from out of state, especially since Virginia is so historic. But in the near the mountains, it seems many areas are still very much left to the will of nature, and when caught off guard, driving through there can be alarming just as it was for Hirata in Iceland.