The Ice Storm is the fourth film I've seen from director Mr. Ang Lee. While his subject matter has varied widely, his style of focusing intently on family members and their reactions to events, some commonplace, some extraordinary, is consistent throughout. This time the focus is on two families, neighbours in Connecticut, and their interactions during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1973. It's Nixon and Watergate time, husband-swapping (ok, it was called wife-swapping), the era of Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.
The Ice Storm is beautifully acted with strong performances from everyone, including the teenagers. The restrained performances reflect the tension of the people living through this strange period of time, with every action, every word being an exercise in precision.
Similarly, the look of the film is beautiful. It is set in a small town of Connecticut where most people commute to New York for work. The houses set among the woods, the stunning beauty of the ice storm, the ridiculous clothes of that era evoke a time far away from the present even though it is only just over twenty years ago.
Everything about The Ice Storm is precisely right and yet it doesn't appeal to me. We never get to know any of the characters in the film or any of their backgrounds. Things are hinted at but nothing is explained. This approach is definitely preferable to one of explaining things to death, and just recently I asked for more moral ambiguity in films (see Titanic review), but there needs to be some reason for someone's behaviour. Take, for example, Mr Lee's earlier film Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, one of my favourite films. In this movie, the characters get a chance to develop, we get to know them and feel something for them. In The Ice Storm, we never get that chance and so the movie never comes to life. The Ice Storm seems to be saying that everyone behaved strangely back then: it was the era. Nixon lied so everyone lied, cheated and stole. Sexual promiscuity was all the rage so everyone of all ages was involved. Since we don't get to know the individuals, we don't get to see why that particular character behaves the way she or he does; hence, all of society is implicated.
When the inevitable happens during the ice storm that is the climax of the film, there are very few surprises, other than in the execution of the details. The restrained atmosphere is retained which is in keeping with the mood of the film but robs the audience of the cathartic experience so desperately needed at this point.
In general, I dislike the device of opening the film with a scene that occurs later in the movie such as in Shine or The Well. It is used again here but in a slightly different way. This scene, used twice, illustrates the difference context makes. The first time through I experienced that scene completely differently from the second time. The meanings of people's actions with the knowledge of what preceded these events takes on a much greater significance.
The Ice Storm is a well-crafted, well-acted, beautifully put together movie. Ultimately it left me cold and perhaps that the point, but I need to care about some of the characters if I am to care about the film.
Rating: CR