Ice cold clarity

Review of The Ice Storm (1997) movie, by Stefan Stenudd

This is a very cold infernal family drama. At first, I was captured by how authentic the winter icy cold got - by both sight and sound - and then this cold did, like winter cold does, creep under my skin, until I was freezing to the bones.

I was not so convinced by the plot, nor did I object to it, but in this film the plot is only an excuse to remain in this bitter cold. It distracts us, so that we remain still, almost as if sleeping - and that gets you, in the winter.

The actors are very skilled at making very convincing characters, but they, too, are just distractions. The ice is the main character, and no matter what people do or don't do to each other, it is the ice that makes the final move and ends the game.

The old Greeks based the universe on the four elements - fire, earth, air and water - and indeed, these fundamental entities surround and penetrate our existence, to the extent that one can wonder how much they control it. In this movie, all that happens seems to be an unavoidable consequence of the weather - and it makes sense.

Maybe we should conclude about the weather, like with so many other things, that it's all in our heads.

Stefan Stenudd
7 January 2003