My most anticipated film at this year's MIFF was none other than Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest “The Ice Tower” which is a fairy tale about the loss and corruption of innocence, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”, which figures heavily in the film. I have been a fan of Lucile Hadžihalilović’s work from the beginning of her career, but absolutely fell in love with her previous film, the mysterious and beguiling “Earwig”, which was an odd fairy tale about a young girl with teeth made of ice. My adoration for “Earwig” was so great that no matter what Hadžihalilović did next, it was always going to feature on my most anticipated list but when I heard that her next film was going to be based on “The Snow Queen”, my anticipation reached fever pitch, with my only worry being if “The Ice Tower” would ever have the chance to live up to my lofty expectations.
Right from the opening frame of “The Ice Tower”, even if I didn't know previous, I would have been able to tell that this film was made by the same makers of “Earwig”, as both the sound design and general atmosphere between the two films is almost identical. So close they are, in fact, that even though the two stories are completely different, the style in which both have been made makes them feel connected, almost like cinematic soul mates. My mind was immediately put at ease, as I knew that I was going to love “The Ice Tower” and that it would not disappoint.
Lucile Hadžihalilović's films are always about adolescence and growing up, but early on in “The Ice Tower”, the film also looks at magic and still believing in magic, specifically the magic within the fairy tale of “The Snow Queen”, as well as the magic of movie making itself. When Jeanne flees her foster home to come to the city and see the world, she looks for a place to sleep and comes across what she thinks is an abandoned building. However the truth is she has found herself on a huge sound stage that is shooting a new film based on “The Snow Queen”. Sleeping between the walls of the film's sets, Jeanne is awoken by the strange sensation of it snowing indoors. As her eyes adjust more, and she looks between the set walls, she sees the physical embodiment of her favourite fairy tale character, The Snow Queen. At this stage, I am not sure that her brain has caught up with the fact that she is watching the shooting of a movie, rather than it being a magical fairy tale coming to life, but Jeanne becomes both enamoured and entranced by The Snow Queen, and the actress playing her, Cristina van den Berg. The image of The Snow Queen is instantly iconic, and you can see why Jeanne falls under her spell immediately. Marion Cotillard is the perfect embodiment of this famous character, it's as if she was born to play this role, and it is no surprise that this image has been used in almost all of the marketing materials for “The Ice Tower”.
A funny part of “The Ice Tower” is just how afraid everyone is of Cristina because, as well as being a massive star, she is also a huge diva and will throw a tantrum over the smallest detail and she does not care who she hurts in the process, often shutting down the movie until she calms down or gets her way. Everyone walks on eggshells around her, except Jeanne who sees her as the fairy tale character she loves, and thus follows Cristina around, wide-eyed, willing to do anything for her, whilst also conveniently excusing her poor behaviour. When it all boils down to it, Cristina is exactly like the character she is playing; she has it all, with the world at her feet, but sadly no-one to share it with, and this has made her bitter towards the rest of the world. Like the Snow Queen herself, Cristina quickly picks up on Jeanne's admiration for her, and thus takes an interest in the young girl, getting her a role in the film alongside her and improving her life, but it isn't long before Cristina's dark side starts to take form and put Jeanne in serious danger. The question is will Jeanne realise that The Snow Queen is actually the villain of the fairy tale, rather than the hero she has always seen her as, before it is too late?
Lucile Hadžihalilović's films are usually less about plot and dialogue, but more about atmosphere and details within the world she has created, and “The Ice Tower” is true to that again, but in saying that, there is still a lot to chew on in the film. Initially I found it quite odd that Jeanne saw The Snow Queen in such a positive light when she is clearly the villain of the fairy tale, and even when she explains to Cristina why, which is because the Queen is immortal and has her whole realm to look after, I was still confused by this. However, it starts to make sense as the film goes along as we learn that her mother died when Jeanne was very young (overdosing on pills), which then made her an orphan to be sent off to a foster home. In the young girl's mind, immortality and owning a kingdom are everything that she wants after the trauma she has gone through, as those are the things she has just lost. Incidentally, the scene of young Jeanne finding her dead mother is heartbreakingly beautiful. The way she curls up in her mother's lifeless arms, holding on to her cold blue hand....it will leave a lump in your throat. I also thought it was clever the way the story of “The Ice Tower” mirrored the Hans Christian Andersen story, but in a way that I do not think is overly obvious, at least in the beginning.
As I have just mentioned, dialogue is at a minimum in Hadžihalilović's films (words are only spoken when they are needed), with her images doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to storytelling. Hadžihalilović has re-teamed with her cinematographer from “Earwig”, Jonathan Ricquebourg, and the results are stunning yet again. Visual motifs of ice, snow, water, glass and mirrors are all regularly used, whilst the colour palette of the film consists mainly of blues and whites, until the colour red rears its head towards the end of the film. Another note of importance is the fact that Hadžihalilović is not a director who is afraid of the dark when it comes to her images, and as such, “The Ice Tower” is never over-lit; if a scene takes place in the night, the image is suitably dark. I cannot stress just how beautiful this film looks, although if you have seen any stills from it, it is pretty obvious.
“The Ice Tower” sees Hadžihalilović also reunite with Marion Cotillard for the first time in over twenty years, as Cotillard featured in Hadžihalilović's debut feature “Innocence” from 2004, where she played a disabled school teacher. In this new film, Cotillard is really playing against type as The Snow Queen and Cristina, because she is an actress who naturally has this lovely inner glow to her, and who comes across so friendly onscreen. I cannot remember ever seeing her play a character as so mean and cold as the two she plays in “The Ice Tower”. She pulls it off amazingly well, much better than I would have expected to be honest, as you really dislike Cristina and fear for Jeanne because of her. Speaking of Jeanne, she is played by newcomer Clara Pacini with such awe and excitement of the world that she has found herself in, that you cannot help but be enchanted by it all too. One thing that did surprise me, was just how tall Pacini is, which may be an odd thing to say, but usually directors choose actors for their child characters that are smaller in stature, whereas due to the height of Pacini, you actually think her character is older than she is. In saying that, the fifteen year old Jeanne is pretending to be twenty, and Pacini herself is actually 22 (so obviously playing younger), but I would be lying if I said I wasn't distracted by her height at times. The other cast member I want to mention is Gaspar Noe who plays Dino, the director of the film being shot in “The Ice Tower” which is something of an in-joke seeing as Noe is a very famous director in his own right, known for directing such things as “Irreversible” and “Enter the Void”. For those that do not know, Noe is also Lucile Hadžihalilović's husband in real life, and I am sure she got a kick and a huge laugh out of giving Dino hair in the film, as Noe is naturally bald.
Whilst I said earlier that “The Ice Tower” was initially about magic and awe, (which is shown by Jeanne wondering around the studio at night mesmerised by the giant matte extensions and huge miniature models of The Snow Queen's kingdom), like all good fairy tales, it takes a turn towards the darkness near it's end. The way Hadžihalilović sets up this change in tone is simply brilliant and has to do with a scene earlier in the film. When Jeanne first reaches the city, she is spellbound by the skating of a girl at an ice rink that is magical to watch. Later in the film, she returns to the rink, and the same girl is skating, but this time she slips and falls to her knees; the magic is broken. The film changes it's tone and it suddenly becomes about the loss and corruption of innocence and it actually goes to a place much more disturbing than I ever thought possible. (I have to say that the fact that Cotillard was willing to go so dark, and do it so convincingly, she should be applauded because I assume that it would not have been easy to go where she goes).
Overall, even with the high expectations I had put on “The Ice Tower”, it still managed to impress me greatly. Despite it seemingly being a simple story, I actually found the film to be both rich in detail and deep in emotion. Director Lucile Hadžihalilović has created yet another amazing fairy tale film about childhood, and I think that with each film she is going from strength to strength. “The Ice Tower” unsurprisingly looks stunning, and Marion Cotillard is brilliant and very convincing as she plays against type to deliver a villain very much worth your hate. Whilst it falls just short of the brilliance of “Earwig”, I still absolutely loved every minute of “The Ice Tower” and was relieved that it did not disappoint. This is such a great film that I recommend it wholeheartedly.
4 Stars.
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