The Ice Storm

How this film uses it

Lee keeps the camera at a polite distance from the affairs, the drinking and the shame. Nobody delivers a speech that explains their feelings, so you read them from small moments. That distance makes the quiet breakdowns sting more.

Where to see it

The key party: Married couples swap partners by drawing car keys from a bowl. A drunken Ben is upset when Janey picks another man's keys, then retreats to the bathroom and stays there for the rest of the night.

How this film uses it

For most of the film, nobody in these two families says anything honest. Then Ben finds Mikey's body on the roadside and carries it home, and the grief finally breaks through. In the last car ride, Ben sobs at the wheel while his family holds together.

Where to see it

The drive to the station: Ben, Elena and Wendy drive to pick up Paul after the storm. With all four together in the car, Ben breaks down sobbing and Elena comforts him.

How this film uses it

The film opens on Paul, stuck on a train stopped by the storm, reading a Fantastic Four comic and narrating. It closes with the family driving to the station to collect him. The repeat shows how much the night has changed them.

Where to see it

Opening train ride: Paul sits on a stalled train in the gray light before dawn, reading a comic and talking about family. The ending returns to the station where his family comes to pick him up.

How this film uses it

Ice coats the trees, roads and power lines while the adults' night falls apart. The crew soaked streets and trees with hoses and a water truck to make ice. A real storm turned to snow, so most of that footage was unusable and a few shots needed snow removed digitally. The beauty lures Mikey out, and the same ice kills him.

Where to see it

Mikey's walk: Mikey wanders into the storm, enchanted by the ice-covered trees. He slides down an icy hill and sits on a guardrail, and a falling tree brings down a power line that electrocutes him.

How this film uses it

While the parents swap keys, the kids run their own version of the same night. Wendy climbs into bed with Sandy, and Paul chases Libbets in Manhattan. You notice the adults are no more grown up than the teenagers.

Where to see it

The parallel night: Wendy and Sandy share a bed and a bottle of vodka and fall asleep. In Manhattan, Paul tells Libbets how he feels and she says she thinks of him as a brother.