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Driven by excellent performances, this entertaining film provides a fresh view of modern family life.

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Black Ice (Film)

by Rhiannon Sawyer | January 13, 2009 12:36 | Edited January 13, 2009 12:37

“The performances are uniformly excellent…”

There is no redemption in this film of trickery, deception and betrayal. No characters end their journey on a happy note, and the setting of the barren snowscape of Finland gives the film an oppressively bleak look and feel.

 

In the first few scenes, we discover that Leo (Martti Suosalo) is having an affair with his young student Tuuli (Ria Kataja). His wife, Saara (Outi Maenpaa), finds out quite early on that her husband has been unfaithful, and goes on a mission to discover who the girl is and how she can make her leave the scene. In doing so, she befriends Tuuli, pretending to be a psychologist called Crista who opens up the holes in Tuuli and Leo's relationship. In the twisted mess that unfolds between Leo, Saara, Tuuli and several unwitting bystanders, everyone is left stranded in their betrayal and far lonelier than they were to start with. Strangely enough, the relationship that may perhaps survive the turmoil is that between Saara and Tuuli.

 

The performances are uniformly excellent, particularly from the women, though one wonders why so much grief and anger is felt over the character of Leo: it is difficult to see why someone would be attracted to the perpetually unfaithful man in the first place. Also, the soundtrack is overwhelming at times - the landscape often is enough to convey a sense of dramatic tension without the need for the swelling string section.