Diagonaldi Very well executed

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Julie L What would you do if you found out your spouse was cheating on you? Would you seek revenge? How far would you go to get revenge? Black Ice is a sick and twisted look at how far one woman will go to get revenge on her husband and his lover. It follows the main character Saara as she seeks to get back at her husband Leo, an architecture professor, and his student and lover, Tuuli.After discovering that Leo is having an affair with his student Tuuli, Saara finds Tuuli and becomes her friend. Saara begins to take karate classes where Tuuli is an instructor. To Tuuli, Saara is Crista, a divorcée and a psycho…logist. Soon the two become best friends going clubbing and partying together. But soon Tuuli starts to realize that Crista is a little off. Although this award winning film is well done, it was far too disturbing for me. For Black Ice, the title itself tells us a lot about the story. Black ice is hard to see on the road-just like infidelity can be difficult to see when it is happening to you. Leo had been cheating on Saara for years and she had no idea. In addition, black ice can be very dangerous and cause numerous accidents. Meanwhile, infidelity and betrayal can lead to extremely devastating situations. And each are only realized when it is too late to stop the destruction that will ensue. When Saara finally discovered Leo's unfaithfulness and how long it had been happening, she was expectedly upset. Sure enough, it ended with a deadly disaster. A major theme in the movie is betrayal. For Saara and Leo it is infidelity and for Crista and Tuuli it is trust in a friendship. Saara struggles with the realization of her husband's infidelity with Tuuli. Through Saara's friendship with Tuuli, Saara discovers that Leo has been cheating on her since their engagement. This irritates Saara even more and she starts to become even more psycho. Furthermore, Leo doesn't really seem to man up to his actions and fight to be with his wife. Tuuli is also betrayed through Saara and her supposed friendship with Crista. Tuuli grew to trust Crista and they became best friends. But in the end, she realizes that Saara is just out for revenge. However, this friendship shows the other side of betrayal from the point of view of the girlfriend. In the end, this allows the viewer to feel more sympathetic towards Tuuli as she is not simply the girl Leo slept with. Although it isn't explicitly stated at the start, Saara is out for revenge. The theme of revenge is central to the story. At times it was confusing to understand exactly what was Saara's plan as she befriended Tuuli. We could only suppose that she is out for vengeance. The point where it went too far for me was the night when Saara learns that Tuuli is pregnant and she drugs Tuuli. This scene was the most disturbing as Saara plays it off as if she is into Tuuli. Saara is portrayed as a messed up character that goes way too far to seek payback. I feel that it was not necessary to go this far. Saara also tries to kill Tuuli at karate with a knife. Everyone else in the karate studio sees this but seems to have little reaction to the situation and go on as normal afterwards. However, in the end Saara has stopped trying to take revenge when she performs a life-saving operation for Tuuli and her baby. By this point Leo has passed away and we see that Saara only really wanted to hurt Leo. Through Crista's friendship with Tuuli, Saara realizes that she doesn't want to hurt her.Another interesting aspect of the film was the portrayal of men and women. Men are shown as only wanting sex. One day Leo and his friend are walking through their construction site talking about sex and Leo's justification for his infidelity. On the other hand women are portrayed as strong. Saara isn't afraid to leave Leo after being treated horribly and Tuuli is a resilient woman, ready to fight for herself. The Finnish film, directed by Petri Kotwica depicts a disturbing story about relationships, betrayal, infidelity and revenge. It won five Jussi awards, including best film. Although Black Ice may be worthy of these awards, I do not feel it is worth anyone's time to watch it. Although Black Ice was a well-done thriller I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It's too messed up.

SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Psychological and very sexy thriller in a game of cat and mouse. What Black Ice tends to focus on is honor and honesty more than actual love. The partners are together, but it's never clear as to why. In one instance we find out that the marriage at the center of the movie has had all of its big moments marked by an affair. Maenpaa gives a fantastic performance as a woman investigating her husband's affair. She wants answers, but doesn't resort to petty violence or making a scene. Towards the end she does begin to crack. A more malicious character is shown, but at the same time we understand where the aggression came from. People justify their actions, but more people end up getting hurt. It's never terribly shocking, but the way the director handles conflict is very imaginative. The non-violent martial arts lessons, showing a restrained form of anger where all the punches are being thrown by the looks in the eyes. Stunning cinematography that captures the frozen landscapes, and a haunting and chilling score also provide extra atmosphere.

williama-678-222173 Musta Jaa's dark triangle thriller definitely got my attention with its suspense and twists, but for a country that views women as powerful, this film did a wonderful job of showing them as weak. Perhaps I hold the Scandinavian countries to a higher standard when it comes to social liberalism, but for a movie made in 2007, I do not like its messages. Why are these women victims? Sara should have left her husband immediately, and Tuuli set herself up for a lifestyle of insecurity and unhappiness. Kotwica claims that he wanted two powerful female leads, well Petri, these ladies were pathetic. This movie makes me NOT want to go to Finland, that's for sure.It seems that Kotwica is trying to get us close to both Saara and Tuuli. His portrayal of Tuuli encourages the viewer to be sympathetic towards her. Long takes, using a close up shot show her crying and miserable. EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS DATING A MARRIED MAN! This girl is young and beautiful, and she goes after some pock faced homely professor who is "so intelligent" and truly "appreciates her art." Barf! Physical appearance is obviously not the issue here; I just felt like being descriptive. The fact is Tuuli is stupid, ignorant, and epitomizes everything a female should not be. No matter how well you do in school or how great of a citizen you are, sleeping with someone's husband makes you dumb. At the end of the movie, I was crying! I was so happy that Saara helped Tuuli. I wanted her to live, and I felt sorry for her. Then, I thought about it, and realized that she is dating/dated a married man. Duh. I believe in second chances, I do, but Kotwica made me forget everything immoral about Tuuli's character. There were even times when I thought Sara was the annoying one.Let's look at a more positive aspect of Finland. Gender equality! Both Saara and Tuuli are women with good economic standing. Saara is a doctor, showing that she has had many years of education, while Tuuli is currently studying art at the university. Their roles in society seem to portray gender egalitarianism. This portrayal is quite accurate, as Finnish women tend to have full time jobs and have equal rights in the labor market (Arber and Lahelma, 125). In fact, women have historically participated in the labor force. For example, in 1950, 41% of women were employed (Arber and Lahelma, 123). This was possibly the one good thing these women had going for them, but what good is gender equality in the schools and work place when your significant other is a cheating, shallow a. hole? Maybe the consumption of alcohol is a contributor in the poor behavior of these females. We saw Tuuli and pretend Saara go out on two occasions and drink heavily. Sara banged a German exchange student half her age, and Tuuli often cried over her gross married boyfriend. In Substance Abuse (2001), Bloomfield, Gmel, Neve and Mustonen found a large increase in alcohol consumption among Finnish women since 1970. They believe that the egalitarian society causes women to adopt behaviors, such as drinking, from males because they are "increasingly moving into professions and/or lifestyles similar to those of men" (39). Perhaps these are issues that Kotwica wants to address, because it sounds like drinking and infidelity is a prevalent issue in Finland. If his intentions were to prove that this type of lifestyle is unjust and immoral, then yes, I agree with him. My one question I still must continue to ask is: why make Tuuli so innocent? She is a woman who should be able to recognize that her choices are bad for her well being. Is this how Finland views infidelity? I'm not a religious person, so I do not believe adultery is sin, but I think marriage requires commitment between two individuals. Two people in a marriage should have enough respect for each other not to cheat! How about a divorce???? Legally, they're fairly easy to get in Finland.Honestly, I did not hate Musta Jää. It was exciting and had exquisite cinematography, and I always enjoy a film with an unpredictable plot line. And for the record, I am not opposed to traveling to Finland. I know better than to judge a country by one representation. However, the two women angered me, a lot.BibliographyArber, Sara and Eero Lahelma. (1993). "Women, Paid Employment and Ill-Health in Britain and Finland". Acta Sociologica. Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 121-138. Sage Publications. Bloomfield, Kim, Gerhard Gmel, Rudie Neve and Heli Mustonen. (2001). "Investigating Gender Convergence in Alcohol Consumption in Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland: A Repeated Survey Analysis". Substance Abuse. Vol. 22, No. 1.

krouses "What do you do? I am a psycho….. logist". This is a short excerpt in the film Musta Jaa directed by Petri Kotwica, from when Saara, played by Outi Maenpaa, first met Tuuli who was played by Ria Kataja. It is in this first conversation where the tone will be set for the two's portrayed relationship. Tuuli asks Saara what she does for a living when she meets Saara at her martial arts class. Saara at first says that she is a psycho (which is not very far off the truth) and then hesitates and finishes her statement by adding -logist to the end of her word. Saara not only lies about her profession, but also gives Tuuli a fake name of Krista. Right away, the audience witnesses the level of Saara's deceitfulness, but it is not without cause. Prior to meeting Tuuli, Saara sadly discovers her husband of many years and architect professor, Leo (Marti Suosalo), has been cheating on her with another woman. After doing some snooping on Leo's computer, she identifies one of his students and local martial arts instructor Tuuli as being his mistress. In an eventual effort to harm/kill Tuuli, Saara assumes a fake identity so she could become "friends" with her. Unfortunately things do not go quite as planned for Saara and a deceitful love triangle is formed. Love triangles can only hold up for so long and, as in the case of Musta Jaa, the thrilling twists and turns of the triangle will keep audiences up on the edge of their seats trying to guess what will happen next. Kotwica does an excellent job of keeping the suspense alive and leaves very few clues as to how the love triangle will untangle itself. Musta Jaa is definitely not for children, but if you are looking for an intense thriller, then you have come to the right place.One common theme in several Nordic films is infidelity and it just so happens to be at the heart of Musta Jaa's storyline. We see this theme predominantly in the relationship between Leo and Saara. Up until this point in their marriage, Saara was unaware of Leo's sexual escapades and it is not until she finds out about Tuuli that she realizes her husband has been involved with several other women throughout their marriage. Whereas Saara did not have the slightest clue Leo was cheating on her, Tuuli knew about Saara the entire time. Tuuli did not seem to have a problem with dating a man who was already married, not to mention almost twice her age. Even Saara chose to have a one night stand to blow off some steam once she found out she was cheated on by Leo. Unlike the United States, infidelity is a little more common and frequent in the Nordic countries including Finland, which is why Kotwica and many other Nordic directors include the theme in their films.I found it interesting when I discovered the film was directed by a man because it is a very anti-male film. The film seems to portray males as being untrustworthy and having their minds driven by sex, whereas the women are portrayed to be strong and determined. You see this displayed in the film when Saara is able to successfully turn Leo's love affair back in his face. Leo is too focused on his sexual will and fails to notice his life being turned upside down until it is too late. In a recent interview, Kotwica was asked why he portrayed males so poorly in the film and he responded by saying "It must have something to do with hating certain episodes of my life and looking back I see myself acting as a clown in the past." He also went on to mention his main focus was developing a story between two women and would prefer to have spent a minimal amount of time on the male character. I believe Kotwica accomplishes his goal by spending the majority of the movie focusing on the relationship between Saara and Tuuli rather than devoting an equal amount of time to their relationships with Leo.Overall, Musta Jaa is a deceitful drama with many twists and turns that wrap up in a rather peaceful and linear way. Kotwica does an excellent job using very dark sets and lighting in the film to help enhance its dark themes. The music and soundtrack in the film also fit in perfectly with its intense atmosphere. I thought all three of the main actors/actresses played their parts full of emotion and were entertaining to watch throughout. Some of the sex scenes are fairly graphic, but they do not take away from the overall enjoyment of the film. As long as the kids are in bed, Musta Jaa is an excellent choice for a late night thriller that will keep you guessing the entire time.