Ice Storm

Revisiting Ang Lee’s Ice Storm is almost like hearing the same story but only from a different perspective. Lee’s brilliant adaptation of the Rick Moody novel by the same name is a tale of the Hood family in 1970’s suburban America. Released in 1997, Ice Storm was Ang Lee follow up to his breakthrough film, Sense and Sensibility. Critics and audiences, alike, were in for a pleasant surprise after realizing that a Chinese had helmed Jane Austen with such astute knowledge. Announcing his arrival on the international film scene lather loudly, Lee would then go on to do a complete 180 degree turn with his somber and ponderous tale of 1970’s when everything was turning out to be an experiment.

It’s that time of 1973 in America when everything was undergoing a change. As the whole Watergate scandal unfolds in the background, the residents of New Canaan Connecticut find their lives spiraling away. While Ben Hood frets from drink to drink trying to ease the pressure of work, his wife Elena spurns her husband in bed but accepts his lies about his affair with the Janey Carver, the seductive neighbor. Their teenage daughter Wendy is tired of people lying and not being appreciative enough of the suffering in the world. She is reciprocal of Mikey Carver’s advances but entices his younger brother Sandy. Her brother Paul Hood studies in the city and can’t wait to escape the drab Thanksgiving weekend with his family to pursue the rich Park Avenue gal Libbets Casey.

While the film deals with the moral disintegration of the modern family but in the hands of Ang Lee it doesn’t remain that simple. Coming from a stronger background when it comes to family and traditions, Lee infuses a strong semblance of togetherness being tested. In addition he juxtaposes an undercurrent of rebellion on the part of every character. Remember this is a time when their President didn’t shy away from lying and this, maybe, pushes each character to cheat, lie and hurt perhaps just to test the limits. There is experimentation in every sphere possible- Wendy is kissing Mikey but can’t help think how would Sandy be as an experience; Janey doesn’t mind sleeping with Ben but won’t take his ranting about life for she isn’t his wife; Ben can’t stop cheating even when he knows Elena suspects him; Elena wants to be the girl again so much that she even tries to shoplift like her daughter. These are people who were created by the society and yet they come across as commentators on the decay. Every one here wants a change and is willing to pay the price but it’s the weather that decides to change things for them. A night with the worst possible ice storm pushes them into a corner where they have no choice but to confront their fears.

Ice Storm is confusing and clear, uncomfortable and yet deeply rewarding at the same time. The film holds even 12 years after its release as each character is agonizingly believable, which makes what they say and believe as relevant today as it was a decade ago. What struck me as I watched the film for the second time in ten years was how similar Lee finds the adults and the children; it’s almost like there are two parallel universes and they meet only while having dinner. The problems of grown-ups and children come across as same to the extent that at numerous times in the film the adults behave like kids. This translates the period and the atmosphere of the film beautifully. In addition to top notch production design that transports you right into the era, the seamless camerawork and excruciatingly evocative background score, Ice Storm has a bunch of very talented actors who are brilliantly cast- Kevin Kline (Ben Hood), Joan Allen (Elena Hood), Sigourney Weaver (Janey Carver), Tobey Maguire (Paul Hood), Christina Ricci (Wendy Hood), Elijah Wood (Mikey Carver) and Adam Hann-Byrd (Sandy Carver).

The other thing that hits you about Ice Storm is how much of a precursor it ends up being for American Beauty. Released just two years after Ice Storm, American Beauty might be set in the similar suburbs and although it’s set in the 1990’s there are strikingly similarities. The execution of American Beauty is daringly different from the ponderous confrontation of Ice Storm but the milieu is surprisingly similar. Are the characters in Ang Lee’s world simply more believable or did we miss out on some thing in the twenty years that that the world inhabited by American Beauty come across as fantasy?