The hopes of transcending their abject youth emanate from the trio of well-realised characters in Chen’s assured fourth feature, set and shot in far-flung Northeast China.
Review #2,678
Dir. Anthony Chen
2023 | China, Singapore | Drama | 97 min | 2.35:1 | Mandarin
M18 (passed clean) for sexual scene
Cast: Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran, Qu Chuxiao
Plot: In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China’s northern border, young urbanite Haofeng, 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.
Awards: Nom. for Un Certain Regard Award (Cannes)
International Sales: Rediance
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Youth Disillusionment; Seeking Meaning; Human Connection & Intimacy
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: Golden Village Funan
Spoilers: No
There is a scene in The Breaking Ice where a trio of characters engage in a competitive dare in a bookshop: who manages to run out of the store with the thickest book first wins.
It’s clearly a nod to Godard’s Band of Outsiders (1964), where his trio of actors infamously sprinted the length of the Louvre. The vibe is similar, the rebelliousness even more so.
Many have also alluded to Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (1962), and these associations with the French New Wave are clear—Anthony Chen is in love with the spirit of filmmaking.
Out of the four features the Singaporean director has completed thus far, The Breaking Ice is easily his most ambitious, with a story set and shot in China, expanding his ‘world cinema’ scope from tiny Singapore (2013’s Ilo Ilo and 2019’s Wet Season) to Greece (2023’s Drift) and now to the snowy city of Yanji, which is next to the border with North Korea.
“I don’t want to be alone.”
It’s a far-flung locale where a tourist from Shanghai, Haofeng, has a serendipitous encounter with a tour guide, Nana (Zhou Dongyu in an anchoring performance), and her acquaintance, Han Xiao. They spend much of their time together, discovering what little of themselves they have hidden or shied away from.
Youth disillusionment is the key theme, but The Breaking Ice goes beyond matters of plot—I’ll be honest, the film is more compelling in its characterisations than storytelling.
I didn’t quite care where these characters go or what they do, but I was interested in what they were thinking from moment to moment (about each other, or otherwise). In fact, I could watch another film with the same set of characters.
In a way, Chen’s work loosely resembles a road movie but instead of redemption, his characters project the hope for renewal.
Grade: B+
Trailer:
Eternality Tan 