Black Ice

Musta Jaa's dark triangle thriller definitely got my attention with its suspense and twists, but for a country that views women as powerful, this film did a wonderful job of showing them as weak. Perhaps I hold the Scandinavian countries to a higher standard when it comes to social liberalism, but for a movie made in 2007, I do not like its messages. Why are these women victims? Sara should have left her husband immediately, and Tuuli set herself up for a lifestyle of insecurity and unhappiness. Kotwica claims that he wanted two powerful female leads, well Petri, these ladies were pathetic. This movie makes me NOT want to go to Finland, that's for sure.

It seems that Kotwica is trying to get us close to both Saara and Tuuli. His portrayal of Tuuli encourages the viewer to be sympathetic towards her. Long takes, using a close up shot show her crying and miserable. EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS DATING A MARRIED MAN! This girl is young and beautiful, and she goes after some pock faced homely professor who is "so intelligent" and truly "appreciates her art." Barf! Physical appearance is obviously not the issue here; I just felt like being descriptive. The fact is Tuuli is stupid, ignorant, and epitomizes everything a female should not be. No matter how well you do in school or how great of a citizen you are, sleeping with someone's husband makes you dumb. At the end of the movie, I was crying! I was so happy that Saara helped Tuuli. I wanted her to live, and I felt sorry for her. Then, I thought about it, and realized that she is dating/dated a married man. Duh. I believe in second chances, I do, but Kotwica made me forget everything immoral about Tuuli's character. There were even times when I thought Sara was the annoying one.

Let's look at a more positive aspect of Finland. Gender equality! Both Saara and Tuuli are women with good economic standing. Saara is a doctor, showing that she has had many years of education, while Tuuli is currently studying art at the university. Their roles in society seem to portray gender egalitarianism. This portrayal is quite accurate, as Finnish women tend to have full time jobs and have equal rights in the labor market (Arber and Lahelma, 125). In fact, women have historically participated in the labor force. For example, in 1950, 41% of women were employed (Arber and Lahelma, 123). This was possibly the one good thing these women had going for them, but what good is gender equality in the schools and work place when your significant other is a cheating, shallow a. hole?

Maybe the consumption of alcohol is a contributor in the poor behavior of these females. We saw Tuuli and pretend Saara go out on two occasions and drink heavily. Sara banged a German exchange student half her age, and Tuuli often cried over her gross married boyfriend. In Substance Abuse (2001), Bloomfield, Gmel, Neve and Mustonen found a large increase in alcohol consumption among Finnish women since 1970. They believe that the egalitarian society causes women to adopt behaviors, such as drinking, from males because they are "increasingly moving into professions and/or lifestyles similar to those of men" (39).

Perhaps these are issues that Kotwica wants to address, because it sounds like drinking and infidelity is a prevalent issue in Finland. If his intentions were to prove that this type of lifestyle is unjust and immoral, then yes, I agree with him. My one question I still must continue to ask is: why make Tuuli so innocent? She is a woman who should be able to recognize that her choices are bad for her well being. Is this how Finland views infidelity? I'm not a religious person, so I do not believe adultery is sin, but I think marriage requires commitment between two individuals. Two people in a marriage should have enough respect for each other not to cheat! How about a divorce???? Legally, they're fairly easy to get in Finland.

Honestly, I did not hate Musta Jää. It was exciting and had exquisite cinematography, and I always enjoy a film with an unpredictable plot line. And for the record, I am not opposed to traveling to Finland. I know better than to judge a country by one representation. However, the two women angered me, a lot.

Bibliography

Arber, Sara and Eero Lahelma. (1993). "Women, Paid Employment and Ill-Health in Britain and Finland". Acta Sociologica. Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 121-138. Sage Publications.

Bloomfield, Kim, Gerhard Gmel, Rudie Neve and Heli Mustonen. (2001). "Investigating Gender Convergence in Alcohol Consumption in Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland: A Repeated Survey Analysis". Substance Abuse. Vol. 22, No. 1.

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, the Finnish movie "Black Ice" (Kotwica) thrilled us in 2008. A dangerous love triangle that goes from bad to worse is filled with deception, suspense and an imminent cat-fight. The main three actors were picked perfectly for their roles; Saara (Outi Mäenpää) is a middle aged doctor who seems to be happily married to Leo (Martti Suosalo) who is an architect/professor. Leo is having an affair with the much younger Tuuli (Ria Kataja) who happens to be one of his students. Saraa becomes suspicious of her husband as she finds a packet of condoms missing. By pure luck while visiting Leo after a rough day at work she stumbles upon an inappropriate email Leo received from a student which happens to be Tuuli. Instead of confronting Leo like an average, sane human being she decides to do a little investigating and follows her around. Tuuli leads her to a gym where she teaches KARATE!! This scene immediately put a smile on my face because I for saw an epic cat fight. Saraa decides to take Tuuli's karate class and after class she hides Tuuli's bike so she'll need a ride home. After this point these two women are inseparable as Saraa creates a new identity to prevent Tuuli from finding out who she is. Get ready for the deception and interconnecting story lines as the three take turns hanging out with each other.

Deception is the most reoccurring theme seen throughout the movie mostly between Tuuli and Saraa. Saraa befriends Tuuli so she can learn first hand about her relationship with Leo and possibly save the marriage. This was a great twist in the story because you have the Antagonist and Protagonist together but only one is aware of the truth. Saraa does a great job convincing Tuuli how genuine she is but really has an agenda the whole time. Throughout the movie they have some close encounters with Leo which kept me in anticipation for when the truth would come out. For me the interactions between Saraa the wife and Tuuli the home wrecking college girl are what really make this movie.

There is also a love triangle that also goes with the deception in this Finnish flick. As Tuuli's relationship with Leo disintegrates she becomes more and more dependant on Saraa and her companionship. Tuuli and Saraa start hanging out a lot and this creates tension between Tuuli and Leo by causing Leo to become jealous. This is the result of Leo finding a used condom in Tuuli's room from when Saraa had sex the night before. Tuuli calls Saraa to have her explain to Leo what happen because he didn't believe her.

I think its safe to say that the name of the movie was a theme in itself as black ice in real life is dangerous and misleading like the characters in this movie. Black ice is transparent so when driving it looks like the road is fine but actually it's covered by a slippery sheet of ice. Just like in the movie on the outside the characters seem fine but underneath they have serious issues.

While watching the opening scene of the movie for a second time I realized how important it is because it introduces the three main characters that eventually get wrapped up in a love triangle. This scene helps set the belief to the audience that Saara and Leo are very passionate and still in the honeymoon phase. As you watch the movie you find out that this is very misleading and the director does a great job setting this up. Also, I think the end of the clip is where Leo crashes his car and eventually walks off and freezes to death. So with that being said the settings in the 1st scene are actually the same as one of the last. The ending caught me off guard but in a good way and I think it was a fitting way to end it, so if you're looking for a happy ending look some where else.

The camera shots to me were very dramatic in this scene especially seeing it for the second time. In one scene you have two people having passionate sex and in the other a girl riding her bike in the cold winter. The focus of the camera during the sex scene uses a lot of close ups on the limbs of the couple showing how intense it is, it goes from sex to heavy foreplay and then to Saraa's face showing her enjoyment. All this is going on as Tuuli is riding the through the winter and the camera follows her journey while showing glimpses of her face as she struggles through the harsh weather.

"Black Ice" is a very interesting and entertaining movie that is worth watching more than once and would have success in America if redone in English. Watching two woman compete for the love of one man is an idea intriguing enough just to watch it and I guarantee this movie will not disappoint.

An explosion of Champaign sets the mood as laughter fills the room, she walks in with piercing eyes and a beautiful smile. She begins to inflate a piece of what seems to be "birthday party décor". As she blows air into the balloon she holds a questionable grin on her face, as this balloon fills with air the audience soon realizes that is not a balloon, but a condom. Using the condom as a metaphor to reveal to her husband Leo and his family that she is aware of the affair that he is having, Saara patiently glared into Leo's eyes with an eyebrow raised expecting an explanation. Throughout this scene the camera switches to a female character spying on Leo and his family. Soon this character is revealed as Tuuli, a student of Leo's and the female that he is also having an affair with. As Saara gains more insight on her husband's betrayal, I could not help but wonder who the victim is, who should be blamed, or who is right.

In many Norwegian films there are common themes which include sex, betrayal, alcohol, and smoking. This film does not shy away from these common themes. These themes I feel as though they are all used as a way to escape what is really going on. Saara, Leo, and Tuuli, all seem to be going through an identity crisis. Leo believes that he wants to be married to Saara, but cannot give up his addiction to other. Tuuli, believes that she is in love with a guy but tries to live around the fact that he is married to another woman. Saara wants to be happy with her husband and tries to achieve this sense of happiness by destroying the life of Tuuli. She fails at this due to her becoming friends with Tuuli and Tuuli learning her true identity. Seeing that this Love triangle was doomed to fail, as an audience you could only expect what each character will do once they realize they are being betrayed by the ones that they trusted. The common occurrences of alcohol and smoking, makes it seem as though each character had their own addictions. In most of the movie you could find Saara with a cigarette in her hand. I found this as a stress reliever for her seeing that she was under pressure the most. Tuuli on the other hand was viewed as a young girl similar to many young students who went to school partied and drank. Leo was the character who I believe was addicted to sex. As long as he could have sex he would be happy. He realized that he was losing Saara but he could not be without sex. In the scene where he and Saara had lunch together he could not restrain himself from staring at the waiters butt. Right after he was caught by Saara, he pleaded for her to come back and be with him.

Sitting at the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end of this movie, chills flowed through my body making my heart pound in nervousness and mind flow with confusion. I was not sure what I was feeling throughout this movie, and I was not sure if I was supposed to know how to feel throughout this movie. Although I felt sorry for Saara, and somewhat understood Tuuli, I could not help but to hate Leo seeing that he was the reason all of this happened. When his body was found froze in the woods I could not help but to think that this is where he belonged and this was what his character role was for.

Intense is just one of the many words that can be used to describe how this film is. Entertaining to say the least this movie was worth the hour and thirty minute airing time. Convincing actors, quality picture and sound fits in great with a masterpiece story that will grab and hold your attention and having talking about it through the next couple of days. As I Stated in the tittle a love triangle of heart breaking betrayal is to say the least.

Musta Jää is a dark and cold love triangle and at times quite humorous one. It makes you laugh the first moment and the second it gives you the chills. Director Petri Kotwica clearly had no rush making this, because it seem so well finished, with not much faults. The only thing that I think didn't work all the time was the score. It is a score by a talented cello player from Apocalyptica, but it was playing maybe a bit too much during the movie. It's a minor minus, but not a big one.

All the actors are just fantastic, and the characters are very interesting. Outi Mäenpää is one of the best finnish actresses and she plays Saara, who finds out her husband is cheating on her. It happens the day she turns 40. Husband Leo is played by Martti Suosalo, a very fine actor too. Leo is having an affair with his student, 29 year old Tuuli (Ria Kataja). Saara starts planning a revenge, that is megalomanic and wonderful to watch, she even creates herself a new identity for it. The plot twists are not stunning but very entertaining and well made.

Movie is good looking too, visually. I think it's not a bit lower than the European medium of cinema. In my opinion it is by far the best finnish movie made in last few years, with Kaurismäki's Laitakaupungin Valot of course. This makes Petri Kotwica one of the most interesting new finnish directors. And this proves he's a great writer too. Movie has a lot of small little things - of acting, characters, cinematography, dialog - that are just genius, not really that much seen in finnish cinema. Much of it happens in Saara's mind. Not that much that you could analyze it like Ingmar Bergman's Persona (which has some fine similarities), but still some. The whole masquerade sequence is one of the things i like a lot too.

I recommend Musta Jää to people who like a well written, well acted and well directed little dark but cleverly humorous European, almost an art film-like cinema. Not for ones who dislike semi-low tempo, and too intelligent structure.

Black ice is a strong film, with excellent characterisation, plot development, and filming; in fact it won seven Finnish Jussi (film industry) awards in 2008 including Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Actress. The wife who is misled by her husband decides to play a complex game, but as the plot unfolds she develops dual feelings of both friendship and revenge towards her husband's mistress. Our feelings towards the mistress are bounced around too because she is quite happy to be a participant in the plot of deception she and the husband are engaged in, but then we find she herself becomes an unknowing target in the wife's plan of deception. The wife seems to have a fondness for knives (kitchen, gym props, and scalpels) and this gives the film a further degree of bite. Which of the 'friend or foe' feelings held by the wife will be triumphant by the end of this very fine film?