This review may contain spoilers
“In a black and white world murder brings a touch of colour…”
The sudden death of a young school teacher, at first classified as ‘accidental’ is treated as a murder, when an anonymous letter kindles suspicions in maverick policeman Takeshi Ujou (Toru Nakamura, perfectly in part), stubbornly determined to pursue the investigation. The discovery that the victim had taken out an insurance policy for 5 million yen also alerts the ‘Rose Life Insurance’ company, determined to find out whether there might be some controversy or irregularity behind the teacher's death; The young Eiki Hirokawa (Yutaka Takenouchi, excellent), investigating on behalf of the aforementioned insurance company, makes the acquaintance of Touko Egi (Nanako Matsushima, very beautiful and subtly ambiguous), another teacher and colleague of the victim, a woman who seems to be involved in other similar cases and who seems to have an unfortunate relationship with men... and with insurance policies...
An excellent noir with an evident hard-boiled derivation, ‘Ice World’ is a journey into the tortuous twists and turns of the human mind, capable of growing exponentially as the episodes pass, involving the watcher in a story with infinite facets, where, in full compliance with the rules of the genre, nothing is left to chance, and where tension and the search for truth go hand in hand with the doubts and ambiguities dictated by the complex psychologies of the main characters...
There is an undoubtedly old-fashioned vibe, the kind that was very trendy -especially in U.S.-made productions. towards the second half of the 1980s and the early 1990s, which provide the ideal frame for the series, those soft lights, mainly nocturnal, and a cold, livid, not to say chilling atmosphere, with photography tending to turn blue - especially in the scenes at the bar - and where even the daytime moments are often played out in contrast, with backlighting effects, almost ‘blinding’ the gaze as well as the minds and reasoning of the main players, gripped by a thousand doubts, even of a personal nature...
This atmosphere is amplified also by an effective use of striking images and symbolism, such as the sea, photographs, and that repeated reference to the ice pick (so ‘90s-esque), as well as a decidedly remarkable job by the entire cast, which, working in subtraction, with an extremely suffered and interiorised acting, increases the narrative's charm; Nor should a particular voyeuristic component be underestimated, characterised by the ambiguous relationship established between the policeman and the suspect, as well as the repeated viewing of photos and footage, aimed at finding possible solutions...
Cold, seemingly detached and ambivalent characterisations become a fundamental narrative peculiarity, since the ambiguity displayed by all the main characters in the story considerably complicates the unravelling of the classic ‘whodunit’, leading the viewer towards false tracks, revaluations and various twists and turns, which serve to reshuffle the cards on the table and confuse -even more- ideas, given the rather elaborate plot...
The narrative climax, in my opinion, is reached in the tenth and penultimate episode, decidedly of excellent quality and narrative writing, where - in the first portion - all the suspicions, the investigations carried out up to that moment, and even certain ‘evidence’, tend towards a solution that is undoubtedly ‘justified’ and well explained, but then, in the final part of the story, a logical reversal will lead us to the excellent closure of the story, well thought out and in some ways saddening, where the fatalistic dimension of hard-boiled American literature mentioned above is really manifest...
Undoubtedly enjoyable even years later thanks to a definite narrative strength and the excellent cast already mentioned, the serial lends itself to further viewing, especially in order to unravel more easily the intricate and engaging story
Waiting for a remake Made in South Korea
8/10
An excellent noir with an evident hard-boiled derivation, ‘Ice World’ is a journey into the tortuous twists and turns of the human mind, capable of growing exponentially as the episodes pass, involving the watcher in a story with infinite facets, where, in full compliance with the rules of the genre, nothing is left to chance, and where tension and the search for truth go hand in hand with the doubts and ambiguities dictated by the complex psychologies of the main characters...
There is an undoubtedly old-fashioned vibe, the kind that was very trendy -especially in U.S.-made productions. towards the second half of the 1980s and the early 1990s, which provide the ideal frame for the series, those soft lights, mainly nocturnal, and a cold, livid, not to say chilling atmosphere, with photography tending to turn blue - especially in the scenes at the bar - and where even the daytime moments are often played out in contrast, with backlighting effects, almost ‘blinding’ the gaze as well as the minds and reasoning of the main players, gripped by a thousand doubts, even of a personal nature...
This atmosphere is amplified also by an effective use of striking images and symbolism, such as the sea, photographs, and that repeated reference to the ice pick (so ‘90s-esque), as well as a decidedly remarkable job by the entire cast, which, working in subtraction, with an extremely suffered and interiorised acting, increases the narrative's charm; Nor should a particular voyeuristic component be underestimated, characterised by the ambiguous relationship established between the policeman and the suspect, as well as the repeated viewing of photos and footage, aimed at finding possible solutions...
Cold, seemingly detached and ambivalent characterisations become a fundamental narrative peculiarity, since the ambiguity displayed by all the main characters in the story considerably complicates the unravelling of the classic ‘whodunit’, leading the viewer towards false tracks, revaluations and various twists and turns, which serve to reshuffle the cards on the table and confuse -even more- ideas, given the rather elaborate plot...
The narrative climax, in my opinion, is reached in the tenth and penultimate episode, decidedly of excellent quality and narrative writing, where - in the first portion - all the suspicions, the investigations carried out up to that moment, and even certain ‘evidence’, tend towards a solution that is undoubtedly ‘justified’ and well explained, but then, in the final part of the story, a logical reversal will lead us to the excellent closure of the story, well thought out and in some ways saddening, where the fatalistic dimension of hard-boiled American literature mentioned above is really manifest...
Undoubtedly enjoyable even years later thanks to a definite narrative strength and the excellent cast already mentioned, the serial lends itself to further viewing, especially in order to unravel more easily the intricate and engaging story
Waiting for a remake Made in South Korea
8/10
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