The Breaking Ice

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Anthony Chen directs. Yu Jing-pin behind the camera. Kin Leonn scores. Hoping Chen cuts. Produced in China, Singapore. Dialogue in Mandarin, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 3 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Mandarin, Korean.
• 3International production across 2 countries: China, Singapore.
• 4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 5Directed by Anthony Chen, shot by Yu Jing-pin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Kin Leonn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Hoping Chen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Zhou Dongyu and Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao carry the top of the cast.
• 9IMDB entry: tt17052842 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Only 55 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Yu Jing-pin

Original score

Kin Leonn

Editing

Hoping Chen

Costume design

Li Hua

Runtime

100 min · 1h 40m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$2,900,000

Original language

ZH

IMDB

The Breaking Ice (2023) ↗

Also by

Anthony Chen

• 
  G23

  2005 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Ilo Ilo

  2013 · ★ 6.8
• 
  The Year of the Everlasting Storm

  2021 · ★ 6.4
• 
  Wet Season

  2019 · ★ 6.4
• 
  Drift

  2024 · ★ 6.1
• 
  The Reunion Dinner

  2011 · ★ 6.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer [Subtitled]

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Brent Marchant2024-04-30
  ★ 4/10

  No matter how hard a film tries to convey a profound message through imagery and symbolism, if it doesn’t have a cohesive narrative underlying that undertaking, it’s not likely to succeed. Such is the case with this latest offering from writer-director Anthony Chen, who tells the story of three diverse but disconnected twenty-somethings (Dongyu Zhou, Haoran Liu, Chuxiao Qu) seeking to find their way in life in the northern Chinese city of Yanji, not far from the North Korean border. Set in the dead of winter, this unlikely trio comes together through impromptu (and, in all honesty, seemingly improbable) circumstances, quickly and inexplicably becoming bound by a suspect sense of chemistry. After coming together, they subsequently embark on a carefree weekend of dining, drinking, dancing and wrestling with sexual tension, intermixed with bouts of largely unexplained tear-laden ennui. The film consequently relies on implication and nuance to carry it forward, but the subtlety here is so subdued much of the time that it’s challenging to figure out exactly what the director is striving for. By contrast, in other cases, the picture’s patently obvious imagery is more than a little heavy-handed, as seen, for example, in its pervasive footage of the frozen winter landscape, a reflection of its “coldness of the world” theme. But what does it all add up to? That’s hard to say. The result is a release that relies more on mood than substance, with much of it implausible, inconsequential, somewhat unfathomable and not especially engaging. To its credit, “The Breaking Ice” is gorgeously filmed, providing viewers with a look at an unfamiliar locale, backed by an atmospheric original score and carried forward by a trinity of capable performances. However, I came away from this feature largely unmoved and notably disinterested, the whole affair having left me cold (pun intended). To me, films that continually reach but never grasp just aren’t worth the time – or the praise that they’re undeservedly lavished with – and this is clearly one of them.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• CA

  Canopy Pictures

  CN

• 

  Huace Media

  CN

• 

  Giraffe Pictures

  SG

Key crew

• ProducerAnthony Chen
• ProducerXie Meng
• Art DirectionDu Luxi
• EditorHoping Chen
• EditorSoo Mun Thye
• Costume DesignLi Hua

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• winter
• relationship
• invierno

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2023-11-03· Denver Film Festival
• Premiere2023-10-26· Philadelphia Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2024-01-19
• Digital2024-05-01

Also known as

International titles

• Ran dongCN
• Un hiver à YanjiFR
• 燃冬CN
• The Breaking IceUS
• A Fragilidade do GeloBR
• The Breaking IceAU
• Ο πάγος που καίειGR
• Przełamując lodyPL
• Iarnă ArzătoareRO
• 연동KR
• La fragilidad del hieloES