In "Black Ice," Peter Kotwica ventures beyond his typical male lead to delve into the mind of a forty-year-old woman. Saara is not only beautiful, but also an accomplished surgeon. She is an idealization of the successful modern woman who has it all. Faced with her husband's affair, she acts like the surgeon she is, trying to fix the situation in a calculated and strategic manner. Her strong character and willingness to act sets her apart from what audiences often expect from a victim of infidelity. Kotwica's depiction of Saara benefits from the complexity of a personality that at the same time mixes dark feminine manipulation with the cold, intellect of a surgeon. So while Leo and his young student Tuuli initiate the action with their affair, it is Saara that takes control of the action. Saara's action jolts the audience, as such decisive action is something that would be more expected of a male than a female. At the same time, the way she uses her female characteristics makes her far more unsettling and deceitful than simple male anger. Kotwica has turned the typical love triange with two males competing for a female on its head. The development of Leo's character is less important because the movie is really about Saara and Tuuli. Both characters have strengths and areas that they control. The dangerousness of Saara is that she is able to use both her and Tuuli's strengths to her advantage. For instance, Saara allows herself to be Tuuli's judo student. There is certainly dark humor in that Tuuli is teaching Saara about power, strategic fighting and self-defense. These are all the mental attributes that Saara brings to the story. The point of the love triangle falls apart even before Leo's death as the drama becomes the line between the two women. Much of the films dramatic tension comes from the idea of black ice. Subconsciously furthered by the cold Finnish winter, there is an underlying feeling that Saara has put her foot on the accelerator and may not be able to control everything she has put into motion. Yet Saara proves to be a far more skilled driver than the others. Leo, in contrast, seems unable to steer his own life meaningfully. It turns out that when faced with events that require him to commit, such as becoming engaged or facing fatherhood, he responds through infidelity, betraying his superficial commitment. Likewise, Tuuli naively steps into Saara's car of friendship. Shot in cool blue tones, the viewer remains unsettled throughout the film. As the film progresses, Kotwica increasingly frames the shots with surgical precision. This leads the viewer to increasingly disconnect from the characters as Saraa's actions become more like a surgeon than a wife. Through desaturation, Kotwica reminds viewers that in the story it is always a figurative winter with dangers from both the cold and ice. Even Saara cannot control the cold and ice. It is the interaction of her actions with the cold and ice that leads to Leo's death. Yet, Saara continues to control the action to the end. As a surgeon, she saves Tuuli and her unborn child, ironic in that Tuuli wanted an abortion. So, Tuuli is figuratively still a passenger in Saara's car. Saara has turned from a modern woman full of life and accomplishment to the Snow Queen of Narnia and it is hard to tell that simply from the outside. That is why "Black Ice" makes your hair stand up just a little. Saara's character makes the viewer distrustful of what they see and this blurs the line between fiction and reality. Outi Maenpaa, Ria Kataja and Martti Suosalo reinforce this feeling without overacting. They allow awkward moments to be simply awkward and that make the performance feel real. Even in the end, Kotwica refuses to lead us to a proper end. It seems like it should be a fable with a purposeful end and yet the end just seems like reality. Ice isn't black and yet there is black ice.
