The Ice Storm is one of the most critically acclaimed films of '97, making most reviewers top 10 list. All the praise was there and demands for Oscar nods were being called for. Of course the film was snubbed by the AMPAS, and Titanic walked away with everything. But that mood and atmosphere of frigid cold and ultimate doom which cost Titanic almost $300 million to make was also done (better) in the Ice Storm for probably 1/30th the cost.
The Ice Storm, a recreation of Rick Moody's novel, takes place in 1973, a time stuck between flower power and disco... a time when I wasn't alive in so I cannot confirm the accuracy of the film... but still, it recreates a time from our (generally speaking) past that seems so real and honest I believe it true. The film centers around two families, the Hoods and the Carvers, who are neighbours, friends, and much more than that. There are four plot elements playing throughout the film, the first being Ben Hood's (Kevin Klein) affair with Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver). The second plot string follows Elina Hood's (Joan Allen) depression and confusion (and need for revenge), having full knowledge of the affair. The third is about the Hood's son Paul (Tobey Maguire) who is caught in the tail end of the sexual revolution and has no idea what to do. The final plot involves the Carvers children, Mickey (Elija Wood) and his younger brother Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd), and their tangled relationship with the Hood's daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci).
All the various elements of the film provide a well rounded recount of the 70's life, the signifigance behind the dissolving family atmosphere, the fallout of hippie free love and drug use, and the sexual confusion that all children have. There is major conflict with the parents who try to teach their children proper sexual attitudes, yet don't practice themselves. There's the front both families try to maintain, like they want to be the Brady Bunch, but underneath the supficial appearance, nobody knows what they're really supposed to do.
Ang Lee has truly put together a beautiful film, with very exquisite visuals and a recreation of the seventies that doesn't make light of the era. Mychael Danna provided the perfect music for the film, with little sense of bright eyes or whimsey, and (like Lee's visuals) carries along with it a sense of foreboding doom. The Ice Storm is a fine example of what modern cinema should strive to acieve