The Ice Storm (Criterion)
The Criterion Collection
Suburban Connecticut, 1973. While the Watergate hearings blast from the TV, the wayward Hood and Carver families try to navigate a Thanksgiving break simmering with unspoken resentments, sexual experimentation, and cultural confusion. With crystalline clarity, characteristic subtlety, and even a dose of wicked humor, Academy Award–winning director Ang Lee adapts Rick Moody's acclaimed novel of American malaise into a trenchant, tragic portrait of lost souls. Featuring a tremendous cast of established actors (Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver) and up-and-coming stars (Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes), The Ice Storm is one of the finest films of the nineties.
Critiques des membres
Strong Performances and a Great 70's Re-Creation - Gregg
The tale of two families set during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1973 in New Canaan, Connecticut (a bedroom community for New York City).
The film very effectively captures the look and fell of this time in history, including the Nixon-Watergate investigation being played out in the background on television. While in the foreground the film deals with the relationships within and between the two families including marital infidelity and adolescent curiosity, for an uncompromising look at what it means to be a family. All the characters seem isolated from one another and when they do try and connect there is miscommunication and embarrassment, everyone seems more comfortable in their own little worlds and they try to escape through means such as drugs, alcohol or comic books. We also get all sorts of 70‘s pop psychology and the minutiae of life of at that time; the furniture, architecture, food , hair, makeup, language and attitudes all seem to perfectly capture that era.
Ice is used symbolically throughout the film and acts as a metaphor for the relationships and the feelings and as the title suggests the storm which is about to occur. There are some scenes of genuine humor but they seem subdues by the overall mood of the film which is best represented by ice.
The film was directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) and stars; Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire.
The film looks good and feels very real and the performances are great across the board.
Critiques des membres
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Strong Performances and a Great 70's Re-Creation - Gregg
The tale of two families set during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1973 in New Canaan, Connecticut (a bedroom community for New York City).
The film very effectively captures the look and fell of this time in history, including the Nixon-Watergate investigation ...