The Ice Tower is a daring, daring and bold movie by Lucile Hadžihalilović that pushes the boundaries of movie to new horizons in a homage to Powell & Pressburger’s The Pink Footwear and Black Narcissus that faucets into idolisation of movie star and obsession with the standing that comes from it. The mirrors of 15 12 months previous Jeanne and movie star Snow Queen Cristina, performed by Marion Cotillard in an adaption of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy story; are comparable from the off – Cristina takes Clara Pacini’s Jeanne, now going as Bianca, underneath her wing – and the 2’s feelings aptitude in a research of character and management; and the parable of the Snow Queen – these closest to her are demanded a sacrifice.
The drama is chilly and unwelcoming and appropriately insane – Hadžihalilović has a novel contact that few administrators can rival. Pacini is immediately established as a rising star – the subsequent Cotillard seems like a lazy comparability given they’re each in the identical movie; however the compulsive repetition with the ice queen that Bianca seeks out in seeking to discover her personal; new mom – is fascinating – visible expertise with a digicam and sensible units actually including a level of ice and funky winter air that make the entire movie really feel all of the extra unwelcoming. Is the movie set within the ‘70s or just in a space that echoes that time period – it’s a proven fact that’s by no means made totally clear and the movie operates exterior of time and house; feeling appropriately genre-less. The mythic of Andersen’s The Snow Queen is given a touch of Christian Petzold-esque realism, leering and incestuous in equal measure: is the connection between Cristina and Bianca one among mom/daughter obsession or that of sexual want? Hadžihalilović unlocks a rabbit gap of Freudian tendencies.
Each Cristina/The Snow Queen and Jeanne/Bianca have completely different roles and their backwards and forwards revolves round a mentorship that shortly escalates ala Black Narcissus as Jeanne begins upstaging extras on set and coming into her personal as the subsequent inheritor; the subsequent Snow Queen. It’s Cristina who makes the primary transfer: they are often collectively or depart tomorrow and never look again – and from their energy dynamic modifications perpetually; inescapable lust and doom overriding The Ice Tower because it hurtles in direction of its earth-shattering conclusion. Cristina holds all the facility – one second inviting Jeanne to drinks and the subsequent leaving a number of hours early and leaving her within the chilly. However Jeanne in flip worries Cristina that she’s her eventual substitute – the Snow Queen calls for a sacrifice from these closest to her; in spite of everything.
Dreamlike and tense with a trance-inducing unforgiving expertise that’s finest watched on a chilly winters’ night time, Hadžihalilović pulls you underneath her spell and retains you hooked, gazing on the Ice Tower and the dominion of the Snow Queen as if it’s imposible to flee from. Hypnotic and chilly, calculated with understated performances – don’t count on scenery-chewing right here; all the pieces Cristiana and Jeanne do is designed to match the opposite’s power – and the battle of wills between mentor and apprentice feels textually engrossing – Cotillard and Pacini each the sufferer of many a detailed up, and there are echoes of David Lynch and Powell & Pressburger at each flip; direct callbacks to The Pink Footwear and the surrealism on the coronary heart of Mulholland Drive is matched. Trailers invoice this as Frozen meets Lynch’s magnum opus and so they’re not far incorrect. A fever dream that feels totally distinctive in a manner that few different experiences have created.
