THE STORY – A 15-year-old girl runs away from her orphanage and finds work on a film set, where she becomes transfixed by the film’s glamorous star.
THE CAST – Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl, Gaspar Noe & Marine Gesbert
THE TEAM – Lucile Hadžihalilović (Director/Writer) & Geoff Cox (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 118 Minutes
“The Ice Tower” is the fourth feature from French writer-director Lucile Hadžihalilović, following the weird and wonderful trio of “Innocence,” “Evolution,” and “Earwig.” Blending elements of filmmaking, fairytales, and coming-of-age stories, it’s a deeply strange drama that unfolds like a Lynchian fever dream.
Set in a mountainous French village in the 1970s, the film follows 15-year-old Jeanne (Clara Pacini), who runs away from her orphanage, ostensibly to visit the local ice rink. There, she spots an attractive older girl skating and later steals her identity after finding her purse on the street. Unwilling to return to the orphanage and wary of the attention she’s receiving from sleazy older men offering help, Jeanne spends the night on a film set. She awakens to find the crew shooting a film called “The Snow Queen,” based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. Jeanne is already obsessed with the story, so it feels to her as if they’re filming her dreams. When she meets Cristina Van Der Berg (Marion Cotillard, reteaming with Hadžihalilović after “Innocence”), the glamorous actress playing the Snow Queen, she becomes completely transfixed. Somehow, Jeanne, now assuming the ice-skater’s name and calling herself Bianca, gets a job on the film as an extra. Cristina begins to take an interest in her, fueling Jeanne’s obsession even further. But what exactly is the nature of their bond?
Extraordinary and uniquely twisted coming-of-age tales have long been a hallmark of Hadžihalilović’s work, and “The Ice Tower” continues in that vein, even if it’s arguably more approachable and more straightforward than her earlier films. There’s a dreamlike quality that’s both seductive and mesmerizing, drawing us into Jeanne’s journey and enveloping us in a heady atmosphere of tension and eroticism.
A key part of the film’s sensual allure lies in Cotillard’s icy, enigmatic performance. She has minimal dialogue but radiates movie-star glamour, enhanced by her striking Snow Queen costume and makeup. Intriguingly, Hadžihalilović allows us, and Jeanne, brief glimpses of the darkness beneath that beauty, as Cristina receives mysterious “fixes” from her devoted confidant Max (August Diehl), suggesting that all is not perfect in her ivory tower.
Pacini, meanwhile, proves a remarkable discovery as Jeanne, bringing a wide-eyed innocence that’s as beguiling as it is heartbreaking. Her hunger to enter the adult world, initially symbolized by the ice rink, is palpable. The image of her watching Bianca hints at a yearning she doesn’t yet fully understand, something that later defines her connection with Cristina.
One of the film’s most delightful aspects is the way Hadžihalilović continually blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality, and between fairytale and filmmaking. She repeatedly employs a clever transition trick, where a moment that appears fantastical, such as Cristina levitating, reveals itself to be part of “The Snow Queen,” the film within the film. The deception is playful and intoxicating, perfectly capturing the seductive, dreamlike essence of cinema itself.
There’s also a stronger Hollywood connection here than in Hadžihalilović’s previous work, whether through a briefly glimpsed poster for Powell and Pressburger’s “The Red Shoes” or a running gag involving Dino, the director of “The Snow Queen” (played in a fun cameo by Hadžihalilović’s partner Gaspar Noé), and his desire to cast a young woman in a Hitchcockian thriller, culminating in a darkly comic nod to “The Birds.” “The Ice Tower” is elevated further by Jonathan Ricquebourg’s gorgeous cinematography and exquisite production design, which vividly evoke the 1970s setting and create striking film sets and costumes. A sumptuous score adds the final flourish to an already mesmerizing work.
“The Ice Tower” is a beautifully crafted coming-of-age story that casts a hypnotic spell, expertly blending cinema and fairytale to captivating effect. It further cements Hadžihalilović as one of the most distinctive voices in French cinema. Long may she reign.
