Frozen River2008

It's tough and cold and gives an inside look at poverty in America. Yet the film is also incredibly compelling and intense and I can't think of another film that's this small and powerful.

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.

As the summer heats up, let Frozen River wash over you; let its bracing drama and the intensity of its acting restore your spirits as well as your faith in American independent film.