The Breaking Ice (2023)
January 22, 2025 4:19 AM - Subscribe

"In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China's northern border, young urbanite man, visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana, a charming tour guide who instantly fascinates him. She introduces him to Xiao, a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. The three bond quickly over a drunken weekend. Confronting their individual traumas, their frozen desires slowly thaw as they seek to liberate themselves from an icy world."

My favourite wistful gem by Singaporean Anthony Chen, and the coldest film of the year. A sweet, melancholic love triangle a-la-'Jules and Jim', but taking place in a northern Chinese provincial town, right on the border to North Korea. It's a place so frozen that the people are shut down emotionally and can't express themselves with words either. Young, beautiful Zhou Dongyu is a lonely tour guide, and like her, each of the two boys are depressed to the point of near-suicide. We don't know what ails them, and until the end of the adventurous weekend they spontaneously decided to spend together, we are not sure if they'll be able to discover how to break out of their icy emotional states. 9/10.

94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
posted by growabrain (2 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
This film was one of my favorites from the last year! The scene where they're in Nana's place drunk and playing guitar is shot in a way that really brings you into the tight, warm atmosphere.
posted by watermelon at 10:02 AM on January 23


@watermelon, I discovered it on David Ehrlich's annual video countdown, The 25 best films of 2024. I also fell in love with the actress Zhou Dongyu. Her Us and them was like a sad 'Harry met Sally' rom-com if they were Chinese-poor, and I'm about to sit down and watch my 3rd movie with her, Better days, this evening.
posted by growabrain at 10:40 AM on January 23


« Older Movie: Kaiju Tuesday: original...   |  Movie: A Different Man... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster