Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

peterm9 In "Black Ice," Peter Kotwica ventures beyond his typical male lead to delve into the mind of a forty-year-old woman. Saara is not only beautiful, but also an accomplished surgeon. She is an idealization of the successful modern woman who has it all. Faced with her husband's affair, she acts like the surgeon she is, trying to fix the situation in a calculated and strategic manner. Her strong character and willingness to act sets her apart from what audiences often expect from a victim of infidelity. Kotwica's depiction of Saara benefits from the complexity of a personality that at the same time mixes dark feminine manipulation with the cold, intellect of a surgeon. So while Leo and his young student Tuuli initiate the action with their affair, it is Saara that takes control of the action. Saara's action jolts the audience, as such decisive action is something that would be more expected of a male than a female. At the same time, the way she uses her female characteristics makes her far more unsettling and deceitful than simple male anger. Kotwica has turned the typical love triange with two males competing for a female on its head. The development of Leo's character is less important because the movie is really about Saara and Tuuli. Both characters have strengths and areas that they control. The dangerousness of Saara is that she is able to use both her and Tuuli's strengths to her advantage. For instance, Saara allows herself to be Tuuli's judo student. There is certainly dark humor in that Tuuli is teaching Saara about power, strategic fighting and self-defense. These are all the mental attributes that Saara brings to the story. The point of the love triangle falls apart even before Leo's death as the drama becomes the line between the two women. Much of the films dramatic tension comes from the idea of black ice. Subconsciously furthered by the cold Finnish winter, there is an underlying feeling that Saara has put her foot on the accelerator and may not be able to control everything she has put into motion. Yet Saara proves to be a far more skilled driver than the others. Leo, in contrast, seems unable to steer his own life meaningfully. It turns out that when faced with events that require him to commit, such as becoming engaged or facing fatherhood, he responds through infidelity, betraying his superficial commitment. Likewise, Tuuli naively steps into Saara's car of friendship. Shot in cool blue tones, the viewer remains unsettled throughout the film. As the film progresses, Kotwica increasingly frames the shots with surgical precision. This leads the viewer to increasingly disconnect from the characters as Saraa's actions become more like a surgeon than a wife. Through desaturation, Kotwica reminds viewers that in the story it is always a figurative winter with dangers from both the cold and ice. Even Saara cannot control the cold and ice. It is the interaction of her actions with the cold and ice that leads to Leo's death. Yet, Saara continues to control the action to the end. As a surgeon, she saves Tuuli and her unborn child, ironic in that Tuuli wanted an abortion. So, Tuuli is figuratively still a passenger in Saara's car. Saara has turned from a modern woman full of life and accomplishment to the Snow Queen of Narnia and it is hard to tell that simply from the outside. That is why "Black Ice" makes your hair stand up just a little. Saara's character makes the viewer distrustful of what they see and this blurs the line between fiction and reality. Outi Maenpaa, Ria Kataja and Martti Suosalo reinforce this feeling without overacting. They allow awkward moments to be simply awkward and that make the performance feel real. Even in the end, Kotwica refuses to lead us to a proper end. It seems like it should be a fable with a purposeful end and yet the end just seems like reality. Ice isn't black and yet there is black ice.

OleDom 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.

ZeroNonsense European cinema, eh? Where would we be without it? Its reputation for stripping the central characters down to bare flesh (figuratively and literally) to probe their dark recesses won't be done any disservice by Musta Jää, that's for goddam sure. The reviews which pulled me into the cinema featured buzzwords such as "entertaining and thought-provoking", yet somehow I came away from this film feeling like I had myself been violated (and not in a good way). You'll know the basic plot from the other reviews, so lemme say why I don't think it works.First off, the protagonists are simply not credible. Look at Saara's character arc - from madly-in-love, 40-year-old respectable OBGYN to borderline nutjob near-divorcée who is happy to shtup (significantly younger) men and women alike. And for all her knowledge of psychology, she seems all too able to disassociate cause and effect - she wants her husband's girlfriend to "disappear", to "never have existed", even though it's clear the problem is not the existence of the girlfriend but the existence of the husband.And what is it with Leo? Played by 46 year old pock-faced, slack-buttocked actor Martti Suosalo, the guy is sold to us as prime slice of Finnish beefcake, irresistible to women dozens of years younger than him because he professes architecture at the local polytech. Am I the only one that has doubts here? Maybe so, as even Tuuli (the girlfriend, competently played by Ria Kataja) finds Leo "amazing" and openly embarks on a year-long affair with him (incidentally, of all the pork scenes in this movie, not once do we see her banging Leo - no complaints here). But Leo's just not that bright or charismatic to warrant the multiple women supposedly ensnared by him. Suasalo's low-rent-Gary-Oldman turn sells us a dumb schmoe who's unable to keep his pants on. What's so thought-provoking about that?Ultimately, though, the behaviour portrayed in this film is well worth a head-scratch or two. The threesome in this love triangle repeatedly bounce back towards one another in circumstances where each one of them should do a Paavo Nurmi and run a mile, yet Petri Kotwica doesn't really explore why they do this or offer any justification for it. They are just three spinning tops in a bowl, circling and clashing until each falls down - the demise of Leo seems unsurprising, totally justified and 90 minutes too late, and when Kotwica employs a deus ex machina to arrive at the only truly tense scene at the end of the movie (Tuuli under Saara's knife), the result seems contrived.Notwithstanding the beautiful scenery and haunting music, this is a difficult movie to recommend.

native_girl333 Black Ice is an ice-cold story of love, passion and obsession. It is a love triangle with lots of disturbing angles.Saara (brilliant Outi Mäenpää) and Leo (wicked Martti Suosalo) are happily married. Or so it seems. Saara will soon realize that her perfect marriage is a charade and just as thin as ice. Leo has an affair with young and talented Tuuli (fresh and talented Ria Kataja) who is a student of Leo. Saara starts to shadow Tuuli. Saara wants to know what kind of woman is taking her place. Tables turn and Saara forms a tight friendship with Tuuli. The solution can't lead to anything good...Petri Kotwica has written and directed this drama with such realism that it is somewhat repulsive. The love triangle is one of the most used elements but Kotwica manages to make both of the women in the story seem equal. Leo's character is nicely controversial which reflects brilliantly trough his women. It brings us to the question that why women always fall for the "bad guy" and is there anything, even the slightest good in that. The acting is strong. Both Outi Mäenpää and Ria Kataja deliver their roles fantastically. It is no wonder that Mäenpää won a Finnish Oscar, Jussi-statue for her powerful performance. The soundtrack made by Eicca Toppinen from Apocalyptica supports the Finnish, snowy and melancholic scenery superbly. Very recommendable Finnish drama!