F-0231

Title:

The Ice Storm

Category:

S

Produced:

1997

Country:

USA

Released:

Film: Sep 1997 (USA)
DVD: Mar 2001
VHS: Sep 2000
Soundtrack: Oct 1997 (CD); Jun 2007 (CD)

Director:

Ang Lee

Writer:

Rick Moody (novel); James Schamus

Actors:

Kevin Kline (Ben Hood); Joan Allen (Elena Hood); Sigourney Weaver (Janey Carver); Henry Czerny (George Clair); Tobey Maguire (Paul Hood); Christina Ricci (Wendy Hood); Elijah Wood (Mikey Carver); Adam Hann-Byrd (Sandy Carver); David Krumholtz (Francis Davenport); Jamey Sheridan (Jim Carver); Kate Burton (Dorothy Franklin); William Cain (Ted Shackley); Michael Cumpsty (Philip Edwards); Maia Danziger (Mrs. Gadd); Katie Holmes (Libbets Casey)

Description:

In the weekend after thanksgiving 1973 the Hoods are skidding out of control. Benjamin Hood reels from drink to drink, trying not to think about his trouble at the office. His wife, Elena, is reading self help books and losing patience with her husband's lies. Their son, Paul, home for the holidays, escapes to the city to pursue an alluring rich girl from his prep school. And young, budding nymphomaniac, Wendy Hood roams the neighborhood, innocently exploring liquor cabinets and lingerie drawers of her friends' parents, looking for something new. Then an ice storm hits, the worst in a century. Things get bad... (Emory Herbertson)

It is Thanksgiving, 1973, and the climate is changing, politically and physically. As the Watergate scandal unfolds in the background, the inhabitants of New Canaan, Conneticut begin to slip into an existentialist void, wherein social taboos are shattered on whims and the line between adult authority and juvenile irresponsibility is practically nonexistant. Focusing on two families in particular, the Hoods and the Carvers, "The Ice Storm" chronicles a brief period of rapid moral deterioration, as the characters shatter their social "roles" in pursuit of meaning and satisfaction, within an environment turned inwards on itself. As the narrative device of an "Ice Storm" builds up around them, the actions of the characters - including adultery, sexual experimentation, drug use and petty crimes - become increasingly unpredictable and impulsive. Once the "storm" hits, though, reality sinks in, and the severity of their situation becomes all to apparent in its bitter, and resonating aftermath. (Samuel Kates & Amazon.com)

Asian American director Ang Lee sums up America in the early 1970s by focusing on the arrival of the sexual revolution in the 'burbs. Isolationism within a family, consumerism, and selfishness are personified by a cast that captures the self-obsession within two New England families. As the children struggle awkwardly with adolescence, their parents stumble through sexual experimentation. In the days of Watergate and Vietnam, society is breaking boundaries and ignoring convention. Following suit, these families are eschewing polite barriers and social taboos, with disastrous results. The "ice storm" of the title refers not only to a natural phenomenon but is a (rather heavy-handed) metaphor for a pervasive emotional temperament. The entire cast delivers textured, finely nuanced performances. This movie lingers in the psyche not only for the scope of the tragedy at its conclusion, but for Lee's often humorous and stingingly accurate assessment of pop culture. Based on Rick Moody's novel, this won the best-screenplay award at Cannes in 1997. (Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com)

When a self-centered husband's relationship with his wife and mistress grow cold, it takes a wife-swapping "key party" and a freak ice storm to clear the air and change their lives forever. Director Ang Lee offers a compelling look at a controversial era. (Amazon.com)

Language:

English

TT:

112 min (Film) / 114 min (DVD) / 113 min (VHS, Video Download)

J.S. Bach's Music:

Invention No. 14 in B flat major, BWV 785
Wendy Carlos (Synthesizer)
Courtesy of Sony Classical, by Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

Format:

Film: Color (Technicolor), Dolby Digital
DVD: (Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1) | (PAL, Region 2) | (Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1) | (PAL, Region 2)
VHS: (Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC) | (Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Spanish) | (PAL) | (PAL, German]
Soundtrack: CD
Video Download

Company:

Film: Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels; Fox Searchlight Pictures; Good Machine
DVD: 20^th Century Fox; ArtHaus
VHS: 20^th Century Fox; ArtHaus
Soundtrack: Velvel Records
Video Download: 20^th Century Fox

Comments:

Watch selections:

Buy movie at:

DVD: Amazon.com | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com | Amazon.com
VHS: Amazon.com | Amazon.com [Spanish] | Amazon.com [PAL] | Amazon.com [PAL, German]
Soundtrack: Amazon.com [CD] | Amazon.com [CD]
Video Download: Amazon.com [Rent] | Amazon.com [Buy]

Source/Links: IMDB
Contributor: Aryeh Oron (November 2007)