When one of the characters breaks down and cries, we realise that the people we are seeing in The Ice Storm have no direction. Their lives comprise of wandering aimlessly through a haze of extramarital affairs, experimentation with drugs and sex and taking everything they have for granted. The Ice Storm shows how children mimic their parents, one character is portrayed brilliantly by Christina Ricci, who plays a young nymphomaniac obsessed with sex. She is a teenager in an uncertain time, and we eventually realise that the children in the movie have more direction and more control over their lives than the adults, who hasten to reprimand the kids for things they otherwise do.
It's 1973 in America and two upper class families collide head on in a tale that illustrates American family with so much integrity that you'd swear it's a Robert Altman piece. It's told by Ang Lee, a Chinese man who immigrated to America, and it's his perspective of family back then. The Ice Storm delves into how people were quick to adulterate because it was the thing to do, and the sordid key parties, where woman fish car keys out of a bowl and sleep with other wives' husbands.
Each of the characters in the movie are played brilliantly, notably by Kevin Kline who delivers a portrayal of a man with no control over his life. He has two kids of whom he rarely sees, a wife whom he's cheating on and a life that is utterly perfuncatory. Also, there's the WASP vixen played by Sigourney Weaver, whose numerous affairs result in her totally losing control over her family. There's the kids who are gradually learning the in's and out's of life like sex and drugs. Lastly, there's the teenager who narrates the story: he has control over his life, and it takes one who is in control to tell a story about people out of control. The two balance perfectly.
All of these problems come face to face in an extremely confronting denouement, which results in each of the characters to analyse their own lives. It's a really sad story. We have pity for these characters.
The climax is amplified and emphasised by the ice storm which hits where they live. Ang Lee captures each icicle which dangles from the tea leaves; the slick roads; the chilly air. It's shown with such precision and such care that it heightens the emotional impact in a film that was already charged with it anyway. It's a deep film that requires much concentration and thought.
Each of the performances are brilliant, the script is first class, the impact is phenomenal and the visual side is breathtaking.
Ten out of ten.
It's 1973 in America and two upper class families collide head on in a tale that illustrates American family with so much integrity that you'd swear it's a Robert Altman piece. It's told by Ang Lee, a Chinese man who immigrated to America, and it's his perspective of family back then. The Ice Storm delves into how people were quick to adulterate because it was the thing to do, and the sordid key parties, where woman fish car keys out of a bowl and sleep with other wives' husbands.
Each of the characters in the movie are played brilliantly, notably by Kevin Kline who delivers a portrayal of a man with no control over his life. He has two kids of whom he rarely sees, a wife whom he's cheating on and a life that is utterly perfuncatory. Also, there's the WASP vixen played by Sigourney Weaver, whose numerous affairs result in her totally losing control over her family. There's the kids who are gradually learning the in's and out's of life like sex and drugs. Lastly, there's the teenager who narrates the story: he has control over his life, and it takes one who is in control to tell a story about people out of control. The two balance perfectly.
All of these problems come face to face in an extremely confronting denouement, which results in each of the characters to analyse their own lives. It's a really sad story. We have pity for these characters.
The climax is amplified and emphasised by the ice storm which hits where they live. Ang Lee captures each icicle which dangles from the tea leaves; the slick roads; the chilly air. It's shown with such precision and such care that it heightens the emotional impact in a film that was already charged with it anyway. It's a deep film that requires much concentration and thought.
Each of the performances are brilliant, the script is first class, the impact is phenomenal and the visual side is breathtaking.
Ten out of ten.