THE ICE STORM
Rating: 
Original Review: A fascinating character study, The Ice Storm was adapted from the acclaimed novel by James Schamus and was brought to the screen by Taiwanese director Ang Lee. Set during a particularly cold winter during the mid-1970s, the film explores the increasingly strained relationships of three families in a small New England town. The adults, impeccably played by Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline and Joan Allen, are all sleeping with each other, mainly to alleviate the inherent boredom of their suburban lives, but also to cover up the inadequacies they experience in their "proper" relationships. Meanwhile their children, the magnificent Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire, Elijah Wood and Adam Hann-Byrd, are innocently exploring their own emerging sexuality, hopefully without the knowledge of their parents. Although only two tracks of Mychael Danna's original score make it onto this CD, his unique minimalist sounds are the undisputed highlights of the album. The familiar influence of Indian and Gamelan music is apparent throughout the ten-minute snippet but, for some inexplicable reason, Danna's music for The Ice Storm conjures up images of cold and snow in my head, in much the same way as do the quieter moments of Danny Elfman's Batman (a score of which this is very slightly reminiscent). In the first cue, 'Shoplift', Danna uses bursts of soft metal percussion and chimes with a short, repetitive melody for woodwinds to underscore the scene of Joan Allen's absent-minded cry for help as she blatantly steals goods from a local pharmacist. The music is developed further with the gradual inclusion of a gentle orchestral accompaniment in the lovely nine-minute 'Finale', a delicately beautiful cue which acts as a poignantly ironic conclusion to the violent and harrowing ending of the film. I really wish someone had seen fit to release more of Danna's score, either on this album or as a separate score release. As it stands, the rest of the CD is taken up by ten period pop songs, all of which are seemingly included for no other reason than to sell copies of the album to seventies nostalgia buffs - I certainly don't remember this many tunes featuring in the movie. Admittedly, a couple of them actually rather good, especially David Bowie's 'I Can't Read', his lazy, despondent vocals complementing Danna's score well. Unfortunately, the majority of the others are pretty nondescript, although the lyrics to Frank Zappa's 'Dirty Love' are so funny they should be censored, and Bobby Bloom's 'Montego Bay' and Harry Nilsson's 'Coconut' are now widely regarded as disco classics. Ultimately, your personal opinion about Mychael Danna's music will be the deciding factor in whether you spend your hard-earned cash on a mere 11 minutes of admittedly very good music. For the curious among you, I would certainly recommend picking The Ice Storm up second-hand if you find it, but for the less adventurous I would advise caution.
Track Listing:
- Shoplift (2:16)
- Finale (9:26)
- I Can't Read (written by David Bowie and Reeves Gabriel, performed by David Bowie) (4:30)
- Light Up Or Leave Me Alone (written by Jim Capaldi, performed by Traffic) (4:43)
- Dirty Love (written and performed by Frank Zappa) (2:59)
- I've Got A Name (written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, performed by Jim Croce) (3:09)
- Montego Bay (written by Jeff Barry and Bobby Bloom, performed by Bobby Bloom) (2:56)
- O Gande Amor (written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius De Morales, performed by Antonio Carlos Jobim) (5:25)
- Too Late To Turn Back Now (written by Eddie Cornelius, performed by Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose) (3:17)
- Help Me Make It Through The Night (written by Kris Kristofferson, performed by Sammi Smith) (2:32)
- Coconut (written and performed by Harry Nilsson) (3:50)
- Mr. Big (written by Andy Fraser, Simon Kirke, Paul Kosoff and Paul Rogers, performed by Free) (6:13)
Running Time: 50 minutes 16 seconds
Velvel Reelsounds VEL-79713 (1997)
Music composed by Mychael Danna. Conducted and orchestrated by James Hopkings. Recorded and mixed by Brad Haehnel. Edited by Pat Mullins. Mastered by Kevin Hodge. Score produced by Mychael Danna. Album produced by Alex Steyermark and Ang Lee.
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Movie Music U.K is designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton (c) 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those the University of Sheffield. All photos and album artwork used on Movie Music U.K. are only for the non-profit making promotional purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.