The Ice Storm – Studiocanal

Director: Ang Lee
Screenplay: James Schamus
Based on a Novel by: Rick Moody
Starring: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jamey Sheridan, Katie Holmes, David Krumholtz
Country: United States, France
Running Time: 113 min
Year: 1997
BBFC Certificate: 15

Ang Lee is a director who’s fallen out of favour a little of late, so it’s easy to forget he’s a two-time Oscar winner and was once a critical darling. Throughout the 90s, he built a name for himself through his Taiwanese ‘Father Knows Best’ trilogy and a diverse quartet of period films, including one of my personal favourites, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The 2000s onwards have been much more hit and miss for the director though. Whilst he snagged his two Best Director Oscars during this period, for Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi, he’s taken a bit of a critical beating with films like Hulk, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Gemini Man, the latter of which have seen him focusing on technical innovations over the intimate character dramas he once was known for.

Some of the films Lee made during his more popular years are extremely good though, so I was thrilled to hear that Studiocanal were set to finally release one of his strongest films, The Ice Storm, on Blu-ray in the UK. I got hold of a copy to share my thoughts.

Based on the novel of the same name by Rick Moody, The Ice Storm is a biting suburban drama set in Connecticut during Thanksgiving weekend in 1973. The film follows two neighbouring families, the Hoods and the Carvers, as they navigate the emotional turmoil beneath their seemingly tranquil, upper-middle-class lives. Husband and father Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) seeks excitement through an affair with his neighbour Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver), while his wife Elena (Joan Allen) struggles with loneliness and moral uncertainty. Their teenage children, Wendy (Christina Ricci) and Paul (Tobey Maguire), explore their sexuality and independence amid the shifting social mores of the era.

As a literal ice storm descends on the town, it mirrors the emotional coldness and fragility within these families, leading to a moment of reckoning and tragedy that forces the characters to confront the consequences of their actions.

The Ice Storm’s biggest selling point is its cast. Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver were pretty big names already back then, and all do fantastic work. Kline manages to make his often despicable and annoying character somehow eminently watchable, Weaver is wonderfully acerbic and brutally honest, and Allen quietly delivers the most sympathetic character in the film.

The youngsters playing their children are equally as impressive. Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood were child stars at the time, but this gave them a chance to shine in a more mature film with meatier roles than they were used to. Tobey Maguire had already done a lot of TV by this point, as well as a few minor film roles, but this was his big break. He plays one of the more grounded characters, possibly due to the fact that he lives away from home, at college. He still has his emotional hang-ups though, as we see him botch attempts to get close to a young Katie Holmes (in her debut role).

Lee has made quite a few period pieces in his career as a director, and the setting here is carefully and perfectly realised. It’s important too, as the particular period in which the film is set is all part and parcel of its theme.

The Ice Storm looks at the reality of the revolutions that came in the late 60s and early 70s. Confusion and repression collided with the idea of ‘free love’ during that period in time. Wife-swapping, sexual experimentation and such didn’t fit with the conservative values of the 1950s, which the adults of the 70s were born into and often still held.

The film also makes a lot of references to Richard Nixon and Watergate to provide a clear ‘end of the swinging 60s’ comparison to the plight of its characters. These Nixon references are laid on a bit thick in places, perhaps (I could have done without the mask worn in a key scene), but this is my only gripe with an otherwise masterful film.

I also appreciated how the film accurately captures the awkwardness of youth, as well as the uncomfortable nature of the supposedly liberating and exciting games of the sexual revolution. The ‘key party’ in the final act is particularly squirm-inducing.

The adults often act like children, leaving their offspring to fend for themselves, struggling with their own neuroses.

Though quite a melancholic and cynical film, there is a relatively subtle vein of dark, biting humour running throughout. This helps keep things from getting depressing.

I thought the score by Mychael Danna was fantastic too. It’s subtle and sparingly used, but very effective. It has an almost ethereal quality, with hints of a Native American or possibly Eastern influence. This perfectly matches the quiet atmosphere and lost nature of the characters, who are drifting through a metaphorical haze.

Overall, The Ice Storm is a beautifully performed, exquisitely directed examination of the end of an era, in the guise of an uncomfortable family drama. It’s a reminder that Ang Lee is one of the greats, even if his more recent experiments haven’t always landed.

Film:

The Ice Storm is out on 24th November on Blu-ray and digital, released by Studiocanal. I watched the Blu-ray version, and it looks clean and detailed, with natural textures. The colours and contrast are a little drab, but this fits the tone of the film, so it might be intentional. I’ve seen screengrabs of the Criterion disc, and they look similar. I’ve used screengrabs of the Studiocanal disc throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed. I had no issues with the audio.

Disc/package:

Where to watch The Ice Storm