The Breaking Ice (2023)

The Breaking Ice (2023). 1h 37m

“Originally premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Singapore filmmaker Anthony Chen has made quite a bit of movies in the past like u0026quot;IIo IIou0026quot; and u0026quot;Wet Seasonu0026quot; which were movies that I thought were solid but not amazing. Chen takes his new project in China in the city of Yanji in the winter and u0026quot;The Breaking Iceu0026quot; might be his best work to date.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThroughout, the production and the camerawork is gorgeous as the camera is able to capture the beauty of the winter landscapes, mountains, and environments that felt like a beautiful traditional painting. Including beautiful visual presentations and setting. The narrative explores themes about friendship, redemption, and loneliness and Anthony Chenu0026#39;s writing and direction is really good as Chen was able to help carry these themes and style together very well. The movie does offer art-house atmospheres and styles throughout which were also well-executed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe characters, while admittedly there could be some more improvement on their depth personalities, were mostly interesting and had pretty good chemistry and energy between themselves. The performances from the cast members are pretty great and the main trio performances felt nature and realistic. Many of the dialogue moments were pretty good as they didnu0026#39;t feel forced, rather felt more nature. The soundtrack provided good emotions, compelling structure and setting with the vibrant music and score that helps to carry the atmosphere and emotions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis one might not be for everyone as the movie is a bit slow for general audiences and those have some art-house style implemented. But overall, I really liked this movie quite a bit. A good winter comfort movie. Art-house Chinese cinema isnu0026#39;t discussed a lot but it definitely should be.”