The Ice Storm
A film by Ang Lee (Taiwan, 1997),
with Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood.
Best Screenplay Prize at 1997 Cannes Festival.
Here's a most interesting depressing movie that will paradoxically put you in sweet low spirits (huh?). The whole story is a tragedy that takes place in New Canaan, Connecticut in the gloomy 70s, at a time when disbelief in former values praised by a decadent America (see the Watergate scandal) is at its peak. This is the story of two families during Thanksgiving break. Genuine lies, unrestrained obsessions, lurking pathologies, unexplained behaviors will in turn upset the Hood's and the Carver's seemingly peaceful lives while the ice storm slowly overwhelms New Canaan. An unusual cast for that movie: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver and the amazing Christina Ricci have all been seen in comedies before. Yet, they definitely take us into the mesmerizing Ice Storm. At the end, a feeling of deep but quiet depression unexplainedly mixes with a decent lurk of hope. Why complain about our very own problems when there are so many other actual problems out there? I couldn't say right after the movie if I liked it or not. But I kept thinking about it for a while. One thing for sure: you can't forget The Ice Storm.
Picture is courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures 1997 |
© BQT - January 1997 |