Pushed to the brink of life, a single mother takes risks for her child and embarks on a criminal journey full of pain and danger. This is almost a natural subject for independent production. It is very marginal, but it can provide a comprehensive perspective on society and a deep analysis of human nature. It also has an advantage that other themes do not have, that is, a solid emotional foundation. A mother who has experienced hardships, it seems that it is difficult not to touch you.
But the director seems to put those things aside for now and focus on telling the story well. The atmosphere of the film obviously took a lot of effort from the director. There is a kind of strong and mournful throughout, the biting cold wind blows, only the destruction has no mercy; the withered grass rustles the sky and the earth, you can only move forward alone, but you have to move forward and take a hard step. , which is precisely the perfect interpretation of the film's title "Frozen River". In this atmosphere, the development of the storyline is very solid. It can be seen that the director has made great efforts in the plot setting and structure arrangement, and the ups and downs of the film are just right to control the emotions of the audience. the emotional curve of the audience. In addition, the film is perfect in characterization, successfully combining emotion with the story, thanks to Mellissa Leo's immersive performance. You can see that she is really bursting out all the accumulation, putting all her body and soul into the role, which constitutes a powerful explosive force. What's even more difficult is that Mellissa Leo knows how to maximize the emotional impact when she is fully engaged. She shows the different psychological aspects of the character in a very layered way, and the retraction, opening and closing are very precise and without traces. It's the perfect combination of emotion and acting—while still maximizing visibility while keeping the characters fully fleshed out.
So what the film shows is that it destroys your mental defenses with waves of plot ups and downs and emotional offensives, and really, you get nervous and heartache at every pivot point of the plot. In the end, the audience will definitely hold the greatest sympathy and hope for the protagonist for this crime journey, and sincerely hope that this crime journey will have a happy ending (although they know it will not). At this point, isn't the audience's mind just waiting to be tossed by the film? The goal of the film is also very clear: it is to toss your heart, and you will not be finished if you don't toss!
However, this film is not immune to the flaws that all indie masterpieces have - one thing and another. The sense of ambition of independent production works is generally very strong, and the sense of ambition of this film is even stronger. It seems that this film is just trying to shock you, in order to impress the audience and impress the audience. Thinking of this makes me sigh softly for this film. Originally, I admired the "story-focused" attitude of this film, and thought it was a very clever approach - rational analysis of the society or emotional lament on the basis of a solid story can be extremely profound and come naturally, but this film is a very good one. The film didn't go any further after the story was told. Obviously there is a condescending attitude, but in the end it lacks a "universal feeling", which is really a pity.
View more about Frozen River reviews
