Highly Overrated But Still Good

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Marital tension is not limited to any part of the world. Many couples experience problems that create stress and may lead to cheating. In his 2007 film "Black Ice," Petri Kotwica depicts a stereotypical cheating husband, however, he twists the story by adding a relationship between the hurting wife and oblivious mistress. The unique variation on this relatively familiar situation creates intrigue that transcends both language and culture, making "Black Ice" a captivating and edgy film for any audience, Finnish or not.A unique aspect of Black Ice is how quickly the plot gets going once the film has begun. After a short burst of romance between Saara and Leo, secrets start coming out and the tension begins. In some ways, leaving out the general introduction to Saara and Leo's relationship leaves something to be desired. It makes it difficult to relate to Leo at all because we are instantly introduced to his faults as a husband. However, this is very effective in that it puts us entirely on Saara's side, and introduces us to the discomfort of relational tension. Our lack of information somewhat reflects Saara's unfamiliarity with her new situation having been betrayed and ultimately separating from her husband. The genre of the film also contributes to the tension. While this story could be told through a simple drama or even romantic comedy, it is presented in the style of a psychological thriller. The characters are forced into uncomfortable and unusual situations that they press through given their unique circumstances. They face unwelcome friendships, relationships, sexual experiences, conversations, and more. Many people may struggle with the characters' actions, thinking that they, themselves, would deal with the situation more honestly as to avoid the deception and discomfort experienced, however the film does an excellent job of showing how very normal people can act wildly when put under extreme duress. In addition to style and plot is the soundtrack. Cellist Eicca Topinen's experience with Apocalyptica shows through in her intensely emotional instrumental score, which drives the film's tension home. Slow, minor chords blend and create an uncanny sense of unease, which becomes more obvious as the film progresses. The first noticeable instance of this musical discomfort is when Saara finds and follows Tuuli, and as each secret that comes out, the eerie theme comes back, stronger and stronger each time. While the whole film really supports the thrilling and uneasy impression, a few scenes are crucial. It starts with Saara finding the condoms at the very beginning. Her conflicting smile and admonition create a contradiction that sets the viewer on edge. This contradiction is further developed as we experience Saraa's ability to compartmentalize and create an intimate relationship with her husband's lover throughout the film. This ability to more or less let go of her emotions completely alienates her in addition toe the cheating Leo and Tulli. Other particularly tense moments include Saraa's first interaction with Tuuli, the morning at Tuuli's home where Saraa and Leo nearly cross paths, the party where Tuuli confronts Lea, Saraa's attempt to examine Tuuli which turns into a homosexual sex scene, Leo's death, Tuuli's attack on Saraa at the martial arts class, and Tuuli falling down the stairs. And those are just the especially tense moments. This goes to show how many small instances of tension are interwoven between them.One thing that the film could have done better was to organize some plot elements more cleverly. Tuuli seeing Lea and thinking it was Saraa, Saraa's restraining order keeping Tuuli out of the hospital, and sparring in the martial arts class all seemed fairly inevitable after the plot devices were introduced. While the setups were interesting and enthralling, they were at times predicable, which makes the film less fun to experience.A final element that I especially liked was how this film exemplified the idea that if someone wrongs you, they should take the heat, not their ignorant accomplices. For example, Leo is the one who is cheating. While Tuuli is knowingly helping him commit adultery, she is not personally connected with Saraa and thus has no emotional reason to stop. This is what Saraa seems to realize as the film progresses, which enables her relationship with Tuuli to flourish. Personally, I found the film impressive and exhilarating. The psychological thriller genre strongly appeals to me, as it makes you think about how twisted the seemingly ordinary human mind can be. No matter how much you think you can plan for life, you never know how things will actually transpire when they go south. While there are plot elements that could have been executed more cleanly, the film is representative of how realism can seem almost supernatural with the right circumstances, people and, in the case of film, music.

A fitting title for a dark drama, Black Ice is full of the undetectable deceptions that make three people's lives slippery and dangerous. Full of scenes with meaning beyond plot advancement, great acting and intense film making, Musta Jaa unfolds to be a well-made film worth watching, but not life changing. The Hollywood reminiscent style adds a wider audience than the strictly artsy films from other countries, with the dramatic scores, suspense and situations and some added flair of occasional humor.Trust and betrayal under the blanket of deception is the biggest issue faced by the characters of this intense film. It starts with the basic cheating husband, then skillfully layers on a sort of friendship between the mistress and the wife and many levels of deceptive trust on all parties. Poor Tuuli trusts "Christa" too much for her own good, but from her perspective she wouldn't have suspicions. Leo trusts both of the women but is not trustworthy for either of them, fooling around and making a mess of people's emotions. A truly ironic scene when he thought Tuuli had cheated on him, was not just ironic in that Saara was the cause of the man's presence in bed and they called her, but also that he expected Tuuli to be faithful. Those expectations are laughable in the presence of his philandering ways, though I did appreciate that bit of complexity on his part. Even though Tuuli knows of how much he cheats on his wife, she still stays with him, which is an interesting moral predicament as a participator in adultery.Dispersed through the film were scenes full of meaning beyond the surface level action that I appreciated greatly. When Tuuli and Saara are playing and dancing on the ice rink, it is deeply metaphorical of their situation at the time. They are cajoling around on a slippery surface, bumping into one another and dancing through this insane love triangle. They waltz together and run around trying to stay on their feet and then Saara makes the risky phone call, drawing attention to their slippery friendship. The other scene I especially noticed was the costume dance party where the two women were wearing slightly disturbing tribal costumes, masked for one another and operating in secret on so many levels.The intensity of the movie was aided by many gory, disturbing scenes, always with some uncomfortable physicality. The sex scenes were steamy, yet tinged with the act of infidelity which made them aesthetically pleasing but morally cockeyed. The film ending and beginning with a drawn out shot of a scalpel slowly sliding through maternal flesh frames the plot with an uncomfortable emphasis on the nearness of bodily death. Another similar one follows Tuuli's playing with a knife with a crazy look in her eye, then a painfully slow shot that looks like blood dripping down her from her feet to the new hair dye she was rinsing, obviously implying self-mutilation. A scene that was particularly hard to watch for moral discomfort was when Saara tried to check Tuuli's cervix for pregnancy after drugging her, then plays it off as a continued sexual advance. The violation of the sleeping woman as well as the falsity of the encounter was deeply unsettling; it showed how far Saara had strayed morally and set the stage for the climax.Though the film possesses a lot of positive qualities, there were just a few things I personally didn't like. Outi Maenpaa plays the betrayed wife well, though her character didn't elicit much emotional attachment from me. I wanted to root for her, but it was hard to see what she wanted exactly and if she didn't know, there wasn't much to indicate her inner conflict. I still wanted to know what was to unfold, and even if the film kept the mystery of her thoughts, I still felt almost more attached to Tuuli. I suppose a film doesn't have to have all-around likable characters, but none of them in this film were portrayed in a positive light. Even Tuuli, in my opinion the most likable character, is cast in the shadow of the jealous wife's hatred and we see her as that despicable other woman.As an overall solid film, it does a good job of exploring what happens when the dark sides of deception undermine trusts and people get hurt. The drama and intensity of this uncomfortable film keep the viewer guessing what will transpire and this ill-fated love triangle is swept along by a current of snowballing events of a dangerous kind.

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.

I don't know and I kinda guess the characters don't know either. It's more like not willing to lose something, than to actually love it/him/her. You could also say, Love is in the air ... but somehow no one can touch it.While it has it's comedic moments too, it's more a (black) drama. At first you might guess where this is going, it seems to go the usual path that any movie with a plot like this goes (look for the plot summary, if you will, I won't spoil anything), but it does turn out to change it's path. Sometime the changes are very ridiculous, so you might have to stay with it. If you click out at some of the outrageous plot changes, you won't like the movie. The end is complete out-there (i.e. crazy), but the movie builds up to that point, so it's not a complete surprise. Still some might be shocked/appalled by it ...