Weekly Film Symposium #1: Frozen River

Justin texted me on Monday with a suggestion for a recurring feature for this blog.  We both feel like we haven't come anywhere near to doing enough for this blog, and we are sorry for squandering this blog's potential for so long.  His idea was for us to choose a film that we would both watch and then discuss on this blog.  We are both seeking intelligent film discussion, and sometimes it's hard to come by.  Almost everyone in my peer group approaches film as entertainment, and while I cannot fault anyone for thinking that way, I also cannot allow myself to see film as entertainment only.  Granted, film ought to be entertaining, but I believe it should also do much more.  In a post I wrote about the film Young@Heart, I put forth my views that film, like all art, ought to do certain things:

It creates connections between the viewers and the work's subject, connections that are intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. The work promotes increased understanding of others, their view points, personalities, life experiences, and the essence of their being. Viewers should feel their understanding has expanded to include the subject of the work of art, and they should feel a sort of rebirth, like they have changed and can no longer remain the way they were. Lastly, a great work of art will create true and genuine empathy, what some might call charity or love.

With that in mind, I am pleased to write the inaugural post of our weekly film symposium.  I suppose I ought to put a SPOILER ALERT into effect for this and all other weekly film symposium posts.  If you plan on watching any of the films we will be discussing, you may not want to read what we have to say until you've seen the film for yourself.  Because we will be discussing thematic issues and other substantial matters regarding these films, we are interested in others' opinions on these films, and we welcome any and all comments.    

Frozen River - 2008 - written and directed by Courtney Hunt.

My rating: 3 and 3/4 stars

Frozen River was an independent film released last year.  It garnered very positive reviews, reaching 88% overall on Rotten Tomatoes, and Melissa Leo received a Best Actress Oscar nomination.  The films deals with a woman, Ray Eddy, all but abandoned by her gambling addict husband, and her struggles to keep a roof over the head of her two children and food on the table.  She works part-time at a dollar store and is unable to persuade her manager to move her to full-time even though she is more punctual and dependable than the younger, more attractive woman working full-time.   Ray gets involved in smuggling illegal aliens across a frozen river on the Mohawk reservation on the New York - Canada border.  Needing money to pay for a new double-wide trailer and put presents under the Christmas tree, Ray decides to make a couple more smuggling runs with the Mohawk young woman, Lily Littlewolf.  Each trip becomes more dangerous and desperate than the last.

I was quite impressed with Courtney Hunt's writing and directorial debut.  I thought the film was quite subtle and mature.  It deals with a very sensitive issue (e.g. illegal immigration) in a way that is neither heavy handed nor didactic.  The film portrays realistic characters struggling to get by, and I was really struck by the portrayal of single mothers and the many difficulties they face.  The cinematography is unassuming but effective.  You can almost feel the incredible winter cold just by looking at the frozen landscape.  Mostly I was impressed with Melissa Leo's performance.  I can't think of another think I've seen her in, but IMDB shows a good body of work.  I think her performance and Oscar nomination for this film will probably earn her a few more leading roles.  In a way, her performance reminded me of Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone, not necessarily that they played similar characters, but they both really were their characters.  I didn't feel like I was watching a performance, and whenever that happens, I know that I am watching an excellent performance.

There were a lot of small moments that really caught my attention.  Ray putting on a smiling face for her youngest son, not wanting him to know just how dire their circumstances are.  The oldest son putting his brother to sleep on Christmas eve.  Just a lot of subtle moments that could have been overly sentimental or mishandled in some way.  Overall, I would recommend this film to viewers with the patience to watch a deliberately paced film with strong performances that leaves each viewer to draw their own conclusions regarding the characters and the choices they make.

That's all for my initial remarks regarding the film.