While it’s probable that
the microbudgeted political-action movie Ice
received only a tiny theatrical release back in the day, it nonetheless
qualifies as a minor historical artifact. Ice
represents a very specific sort of political cinema—call it “notes from the
underground.” Just as the film was plainly designed to energize receptive
audiences with precious little hope of converting skeptics, the movie holds
minor appeal when appraised with modern sensibilities. Those on the far left
will be more sympathetic to the attitudes and grungy style of the picture,
while those in the center and on the right are more likely to find watching Ice pointless. After all, the 130-minute
drama is a black-and-white experimental piece that occasionally features text
passages and culminates with a crude sequence using children’s toys and
miniature sets to express overt statements about power structures in society.
Reduced to its simplest level, the plot is about a consortium of revolutionary
groups trying to align their agendas for combined action against the
Establishment during the time of the Vietnam War. Much of the film comprises
long debates among young people with clashing ideas regarding how best to
trigger social change, so there’s an interesting trope about freedom-of-speech
warriors airing grievances so openly they can’t agree on anything. A little of
this material, however, goes a long way—and there’s a lot of this material.
Also featured are brief vignettes of violence
inflicted upon activists. Some of these scenes are vicious, as when thugs perform
some sort of genital mutilation on a male activist; although that moment isn’t
explicit, it unfolds, painfully, in real time. And then there are bits that
tick the requisite ’70s-freakshow box, like the sequence of
experimental-theater players crawling around a stage while wearing pig masks.
It’s not fair to say that Ice is
impenetrable, since writer-director Robert Kramer’s political stance is obvious
from start to finish. But there’s pronounced dissonance between accessible
scenes of humans interacting and clumsy stretches featuring representative
imagery. Particularly dubious is the aforementioned final scene, during which a
toy-sized nuclear missile humps a robot toy bearing the label “Ruling Class.”
Ice:
FUNKY
4 comments:
Any actors of note, in early performances?
Not a one, as far as I could tell. The director plays the nominal lead, though it's really an ensemble piece.
Despite the obvious low-budget nature and amateur acting on display, I totally dig this film.
This film is interesting because having read so many books by civil rights activists and war protestors from that era, and later meeting some in person, it's cool to actually see a film that deals with people actually talking about trying to make some real changes in society, and trying to work out the real-life practicalities of doing so. It's an indie film, and it makes you think, instead of just being mindless entertainment, like a Hollywood film of that era would have just been. That's why I liked it, and obviously, that's the reason it's so obscure today---it's an interesting and thoughtful artifact from those times, though. The director, Robert Kramer, would go on to make several more films, including the 1975 drama Milestones, then move to France, and passed away in the late '90s.
Post a Comment