“Snow on Tha Bluff” is a documentary of an obscure world with detailed language, specific currency, and a strict hierarchy unfound in the majority of the United States.

Because the accents make it difficult to understand many of the conversations, subtitles are a very good idea to get more out of this movie.

“Snow on Tha Bluff” is set in “The Bluff”, a neighborhood in Atlanta notorious for felonies of all variety and deep poverty. Government subsidized housing is the only housing, roads are cracked and slanted.

The film begins as three perky college students drive to the Bluff in search of exciting drugs, and the chance to film the scandalous encounter. However, they soon meet Curtis Snow.

He expertly robs the naive youngsters of bags, wallets, phones, and even the camera. An inspired Curtis begins to film his daily adventures.

Through Curtis’ wanderings, we learn that life on the Bluff revolves around cocaine. People roam the streets, chatting with their neighbors, making light of the hard times that have hit.

To most viewers, it is appalling that no one is working, or in school. How do they pay bills? Isn’t there something productive to do?

To Curtis, and most that he encounters, there is one option. The only way to survive is to be successful at the trade of the area- drug dealing. Hungry men fight for white bags instead of green bills.The business of guarding territory and product defines power and status. 

A few scenes in, rival drug dealers with better product make a move on Curtis’ block. Curtis and his friends swiftly pounce on them wearing wigs and holding high-powered weapons.

After a successful excursion, they gather for a celebratory beer. Curtis hangs out in his neighborhood, plays with his son, and enjoys quality time with his friends, all while toting a hand gun and a few grams of blow.

The people filmed have a casual careless demeanor towards very serious subjects, causing the movie to often seem almost humorous, even fake. In one scene, Curtis gives a tour of his neighborhood by pointing out the various places his family members have been shot, cracking jokes in between.

What makes this movie appealing is the shock value of such a lifestyle. What makes this film important is that the subjects documented are not faces in obituaries, or mugshots, or cartoon stereotypes. They are people, and this is the story of their lives.