{mosimage}Critically praised and highly award Petri Kotwica’s drama is released on DVD.
At the time of its theatrical release last autumn, Black Ice (Musta Jää) was acclaimed by critics. Since then, the film has received several international awards and most recently the film was honored with six Jussi awards (the Finnish Oscars), including Best Director, Best Film and Best Script and Best Actress. With such a hype, I was very intrigued and really eager to watch this film. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.
Many might say that Black Ice is a typically (depressing) Finnish movie. Indeed, a not so funny plot takes places in a freezing and snowy Helsinki and it is a calm and restrained storytelling. But the core and the theme of the story are quite universal: in short, Black Ice tells the story of a woman and her relation with her husband and her husband’s lover. This effect is increased by the way the city is portrayed. We see Helsinki on the screen but we don’t really recognize its streets. It could be any other city.
The film is magnificiently directed by Petri Kotwica, who portrait the dark and corrupted relationship between the three characters with a beautiful photography of blue and cold tones.
The script is addictive and in spite of the tragedy or the extreme turns of the plot, the film is convincing and solid. It avoids the easy drama. Outi Mäenpää’s acting is outstanding and it really helps making the story real.
Black Ice, now easily available for the non Finnish speakers thanks to the English subtitles included on the DVD, is one of those stories that offer strong characters and a solid dilema that will remain in our minds days after we finish watching the movie. How far can we go because of jealousy?
Rating 5/5