Frozen River

The rule that independent American films have more substance than their Hollywood counter parts is yet again reaffirmed. The weight of the film is carried on the shoulders of the brilliant Melissa Leo who plays the down-ridden, abandoned mother of two, struggling to provide them a better life. It is the side of America that is anything but illustrious but yet so true to many.

This film is a drama set on the border between the US and Canada, specifically between the US state of New York and the Canadian Quebec. The story is a very well-constructed drama, which begins by introducing us to the financial difficulties experienced by Ray Eddy, a woman recently abandoned by her husband (who ran away with family savings). After a fortuitous car incident, she meets Lila Littlewolf, a Mohawk Indian who lives on an Indian reservation, a territory with specific rules and its own police jurisdiction. It will be Lila who will assist Ray, introducing her to a risky but lucrative way of life: transporting illegal immigrants across the border. The film wisely bets on creating an atmosphere of tension and drama. The way she introduces us to the protagonist's financial difficulties is convincing, and the way she reacts to the problems is equally credible. The family drama is very well explored, with human trafficking portrayed not just as a crime, but as something deemed necessary to survive. There are, however, several moments throughout the film that are hard to become credible, and where the logic of the characters' attitudes and behavior is forced. This is the case with the situation with the baby, or the way in which the two women threaten a mobster with a gun so as not to be cheated in the payment that was owed to them. These are punctual moments in which, in favor of greater drama (which was also necessary), the film risked losing the logical coherence it maintained. Unfortunately, the film doesn't get much further than that and has little juice for a more appealing story. The cast is competent, and Melissa Leo proved to be a good choice for the protagonist. She was able to embody the character and look ordinary, just like any middle-aged woman from modest backgrounds. In fact, she gave the character a strong, combative personality, used to the hardships of a life of setbacks. Leo's work is counterbalanced by Melissa Upham, competent in the role of indigenous Lila. She was good enough, but the character hasn't developed as happily and leaves many questions in the air, such as why she started transporting immigrants, and what would be the consequences for the reservation if they had tried to protect her from the formal authorities. The rest of the cast is limited to simple roles, somewhat one-dimensional and limited. Technically, it's a low-key movie with interesting points. Set during winter, the cold, snow and ice are constant and were intelligently used in the construction of a cinematography of cold, gray and bluish colors, and low contrast. There are a lot of night scenes and car interiors, but I don't think the film was able to give us the feeling of a closed, capsular and small car-like environment. The movie's pace is reasonably slow, and that might tire some people, but it gives the movie more time to build the heavy, dramatic environment it's based on. The sets and costumes aren't remarkable, but they fit the story, and I felt that the film didn't spend a lot on that and that it played on a very limited budget.

Dans Frozen river, on est dans du Zola et du Hugo à l'américaine et le misérabilisme plein pot, un plein jour de soldes. Ici, c'est la grande braderie de la misère sociale, même qu'ils auraient pu l'appeler "Les Misérables en hiver" qui font passer des migrants pour boucler les fins de mois... Ici, les miséreux ont tous une sale gueule et une vilaine peau, y compris leurs mômes... faut dire que manger du pop-corn et boire du jeu d'orange (il est surgelé je présume), ça ne rend pas jouasse. En plus de ça, de tout ça, le film insiste pour mettre les minorités visibles en avant et montrer le flic comme un SS ressorti d'outre-tombe. Et en plus, vous voyez, le flic est implicitement raciste, oui raciste envers les Amérindiens et leur pauvre réserve. Et puis, l'hiver est rude, un jour il fait -20, un autre -28... et tout le monde est méchant avec les pauvres, personne ne veut leur faire crédit... mais ça, c'est peut-être parce qu'ils n'ont jamais un rond, ces sales pauvres ! vous vous rendez compte, obligés de faire les passeurs pour acheter à manger ! les passeuses plutôt avec la squaw dont l'enfant lui a été enlevé et l'autre toute seule avec son ado et son petit parce que le mari est allé jouer le maigre argent du ménage... Mais c'est trop horrible. Vraiment trop horrible de montrer ça pendant un film entier parce que moi spectateur de base, j'en ai rien à branler de ces maudits pauvres qui se les gèlent près de la frontière canadienne. Car comme dirait un certain, ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre. Faites un documentaire, la prochaine fois.