The Ice Storm Review
by Nicholas Amado (NAMIAM AT aol DOT com)November 9th, 1997
Ice Storm
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood
Screenplay: James Schamus
Based on the novel by: Rick Moody
Approx Running time: 110 min.
The events of Ice Storm unfold over the span of Thanksgiving weekend in Connecticut, 1973. The title is both a literal component of the film as well as a metaphor for what we see within the characters. Ang Lee (director of Sense and Sensibility) puts together a marvelously chilling, darkest of dark, seriocomic melodrama. The characters all have two lives, one with their families, the other a dark chamber within their own minds that controls each of them. Stellar performances, and expert camerawork and cinematography round out this look at the lives of the nuclear families in the early '70's.
The main characters are comprised of two sets of parents, each with two children. All of them, in one form or another explore their own sexuality. The children, ranging from age 12 to age 17 are the most experimental, especia lly Wendy (Christina Ricci) who at the age of 17 is a nymphomaniac in training. We come to understand that each child has his or her own emotional problems linked to their disfunctional parents. While the folks are off at swingers parties, the children are left alone, free to explore themselves and each other. Though the parents often discover the acts as they occur, they are never seriously scolding, but rather passive. It left me with a very cold feeling, as does much of the film. The parents, who obviously love their children, never seem to know exactly how to handle them, and all of the communication in the past has been fluff, never really getting to the heart of the matter. In one scene, Ben (Kevin Kline) attempts to explain to his son the nature of sexuality, but, unable to find the right words, he downgrades to talking about masturbation, until he finally drops the subject entierely, asking his son not to tell anyone what he had just said.
There is an icy chill between all the characters as each of them interacts. The children have no substantial connection with their parents, the two young brothers have an non-aggressive, but uncaring relationship. The adults all have problems with each other because of their personal agendas. The film is coated with different cold images, mostly of ice being broken in an ice tray, or frozen, crystalized trees and electrical wires. The interlacing of the literal storyline the visual icy metaphor is incredibly well done. Any warm or cozy shot is broken in one way or another by ice or by coldness. Comfort between characters is never long-lasting. No one in the film is quite as chilling as Jane, played convincingly by Sigourney Weaver. In her attempt at explaining sex to her neighbors' child, she begins to go off on a tangent about how Samoan children are sent off to the wild until they learn a thing or two. After sex with her adulterous neighbor Ben, she tells him that she "already has a husband" when he is talking to her about golf.
Christina Ricci gives the best performance among a very talented cast. She plays the daughter of Kevin Kline and Joan Allen. She is always in control, does as she pleases, and never seems upset about disturbing events.
There are a number of funny situations in Ice Storm, but overall, this is a deep, disturbing look at two families. One may want to compare it to Ordinary People, the Academy Award winning film of 1980. But though there are similarities in terms of the "disturbed child" and the freezing finale, these two films are distinctly different, and Ice Storm is much more compelling. Ordinary People succeeds at its attempts at occasional warmth. Ice Storm never makes those attempts. It is a dreary but moving drama with fantastic visuals, done to cinematic perfection.
3 1/2 out of 4 stars
Copyright (C) Nicholas Amado
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