Product Description
84 minutes, color, French w/English subtitles DVD Bonus Features: * Filmmakers' Production Notes and Biographies . Fiona is the manager of a fast-food restaurant. She lives comfortably with her family in the suburbs. In other words, Fiona is happy. Until the day she accidentally gets locked into a walk-in freezer. She escapes the next morning, half frozen and barely alive, only to realize that her husband and two children didn't even notice she was missing. But when Fiona develops an obsession for everything cold and icy - snow, polar bears, refrigerators, icebergs - she drops everything, climbs into a frozen goods delivery truck and leaves home. For a real iceberg.
.com
A delightful romantic fable, L'Iceberg begins when Fiona, the manager of a Belgian fast-food restaurant, is trapped in the restaurant's freezer. When she emerges, she discovers her husband and two children never knew she was gone. Now obsessed about cold, she climbs into the back of a refrigerated truck. When, after a few adventures, she ends up in a small French port, Fiona realizes she could actually go to the iceberg she's been dreaming of with the aid of a sailor who can't speak or hear. The whimsical plot is only a small part of this movie's charm. L'Iceberg is largely a collection of linked physical comedy routines, performed with the physical deftness of Jacques Tati (Mr. Hulot's Holiday, Playtime) and the offbeat pacing of Aki Kaurismaki (The Man Without a Past, Leningrad Cowboys Go America). The actors who play the leads--Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel, and Philippe Martz--all come from circus backgrounds, and each brings a unique personality to their particular flavor of understated slapstick (Gordon comes across like the love child of Buster Keaton and Tilda Swinton). L'Iceberg will appeal to fans of Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) for its loopy sweetness and fans of Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise, Dead Man) for its deadpan cinematic style. A genuinely charming and unique movie; the dvd features some entertaining production notes, but regrettably does not include the award-winning short films Gordon and Abel made previously. Bring on the Criterion edition! --Bret Fetzer
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Review
"Comedic genius, magnificently choreographed! Two Thumbs Up!" - --Ebert & Roeper
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Reviews
4.3
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W**W
The Best Film I've Ever Seen (Maybe....)
I'd say this is the best film I've ever seen.It’s made in a style I was unaware of (although, not being a film buff, maybe it's the way old Charlie Chaplin films were made - or maybe these guys invented it?!) Almost every scene has nothing but the establishing shot. No medium shots, no closeups. On occasion the main action is outside through a window, and yet, somehow, this doesn't just make it funnier at times - the performances and story-telling are done with a brilliant cleverness - somehow you’re drawn in even more, as you are not being spoon fed, but are, to an extent, forced to engage your own mind and imagination.The actors are so brilliant, and so committed to their deadpan characters, that a yawn - a sustained yawn - can lead to guffaws of laughter.I’m writing this review because I saw some one star reviews. These are written by stupid people, with no souls, and no sense of beauty or wonder. One might argue it would make the world a better place if they died, but of course they’re not really alive anyway. So you can safely ignore their one star reviews (written from their zero star lives.)The film is a fable, and thus is universal (again, to anyone with a soul), speaking to the insatiable drive of a Hillary to climb Mount Everest, or of a man determined to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower with toothpicks – or something equally illogical – or, indeed, of anyone with a passion accompanied by an inkling of the synchronistic connections that can make decisions driven by illogical yet overpowering passions the most perfect ones.I am grateful that these people put their time, talents, and energies into this great work of great beauty.Austin Washington
G**E
Endearing If Slight Entertainment. Extreme Low Budget Fantasy/Adventure.
This duo is an acquired taste. I saw their film "The Fairy" first---then forgot I'd seen it, then realized I had just before it ended the second time around, a couple of years later. In a way they're like a sophisticated Three Stooges or a silent Marx Brothers; they bring a low budget high art mien to the telling of often convoluted fantasies where the distinction between reality and fantasy are blurred. Their circus background shows, well. There's a certain acrobatic quality to their stunts and a grace in their practiced clumsiness. And there isn't generally a lot of dialog so if you don't like foreign language films, there isn't a lot of reading to do.Then again, it's as French as a baguette. I watch Chinese films and marvel at how the story telling form is so much like American films, and then see a French film like this and marvel at how different the French are in telling a story.In this film a woman, Fiona Gordon, is inadvertently locked overnight in a restaurant's walk-in freezer, illustrating why modern ones have interior latches. Although she is rescued with no apparent damage, she does suddenly have a desire to be cold, to get closer to cold things. She pursues this to the extreme, physically abandoning her family (featuring her real life partner Dominique Abel, the director) which had already seemed to have abandoned her, in her efforts to find an iceberg, her island paradise. There is no expense that has not been successfully avoided in the filming of this movie, no short cut and money saving effort that has not been expertly executed. Low Budget is the very nature of these adventures, and it is, in spite of its budget an entertaining film, although I still prefer "The Fairy".
D**S
Strange, Amusing, Fun, Understated
This is an unusual film in so many ways but mostly because it resembles life. The crazy day to day struggle is represented by a mother and wife who suddenly runs into the desire to escape her routine of cornered averageness. This film probably would be a bit subtle for the average American which is why most audiences in the States haven't heard of it but for those who adore cinema, they will find it a rewarding time spent with the characters in the quixotic chase to become something new out of an ordinary existence. There is one gag after another which will tickle your funny bone though it may not have you bellowing out loud with uncontrollable laughter (though it could very well at that). It satisfies with the cute ending and will probably leave you a bit more touched than expected. There is a depth here to it but overall pretends to be a very light film.
F**N
Comedy Show.
It's what's on the screen that counts.L'iceberg is pure movie making. Movies should be made by showing the action, not talking about the action. And what both Fiona Gordon and Dominique do is tell their story by showing. The two add a Capital S to the words ShowWhen Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were the king of comedies during the silent era, moviegoers didn't care if they heard words or not. All they care about was the action on the screen: the visual presentation told the story, not the words. L'iceberg is made in the same style as silent movies in the 1920s. As a result, this movie is brilliant to watch. And I sit and watch a movie. I don't sit and listen to a movie. So to say, the least, this movie is worth watching. It's hysterical. And well acted, not only by Gordon and Abel, but also Bruno Remy.
N**A
Before The Fairy, there was The Iceberg
Spoiler alert: Since I saw _The Fairy_, I love everything Abel, Gordon and Romy have done. I discover something new on every viewing.I bought this movie on DVD because who knows how long it will stay on Prime. Philippe Martz as the perennial foil in these films (he's brilliant in _The Fairy_) is a joy here, as are the senior citizens who help Fiona. These films may confuse some people because there are no bad guys. The filmmakers hold a gently optimistic world view that for a moment makes you forget your troubles.I can't wait to see what this trio produces next!
P**K
Happiness in a walk-in freezer
A quirky movie indeed. Fiona, a fast-food manager gets locked in the walk-in freezer overnight, her family apparently didn't notice. I think she becomes obsessed with cold and leaves her family in search of an iceberg. Sound a little quirky? Very little dialogue, the film relies greatly on sight gags and physical comedy. The lead actress must have had bruises after filming. There is some very brief, non-sexual nudity. I found the film humorous and enjoyable to watch.
P**E
A brilliant new take on old-style physical humour
For me this is a brilliant film with a uniquely attractive style, and very funny - although it’s clear that not everyone is in tune with this type of humour. It’s a homage to the simplicity of the early days of physical comedy, to Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, but Gordon and Abel - along with their equally talented co-writer-director-actor, Bruno Romy - developed in this first full-length feature a format that is very much their own. Visually it’s highly colourful and the special effects are unashamedly naive, using early techniques such as back-projection and models to remove the whole thing several steps from reality.The acting is deadpan, sometimes acrobatic, often absurd and effortlessly amusing. I love the opening shot which is a long, talking-head introduction in Inuktitut (with subtitles!) by a young woman, a native of the frozen north of Canada, in which her natural smile keeps breaking out and is completely irresistible. It sets the tone wonderfully for the rest of the film - the message is, relax, this is just fun, a fairy tale. Sit back and enjoy.And by the way, my Region 2 DVD player (European) coped perfectly well with this American DVD.
M**N
All regions DVD
I wanted to see this precursor to "Rumba" but was worried it might not play properly, being region 1 and NTSC encoded according to other info I had seen. No such problem - it's region 0 so plays in any country, and the colour rendition was fine on my DVD player. I loved the film - imaginative, funny, delicate emotions - classic theatre.
K**M
Super film!
Super film belgeDéjanté et drôle à souhait,ce film caracterise bien le cinéma belge. Surprenant,ce film a été tourné en France à Barfleur ......juste à côté de chez moi. Une belle histoire bourrée de Jolie,tristesse et éclats de rire. Les personages sont criants de vèrité et de folie.
N**I
très bon film franco belge
Plein d'humour et de burlesque dans un univers à la Jacques Tati et à Aki Kaurismaki (à voir aussi le film "rumba"). Le trio des acteurs (dont 2 sont aussi les realisateurs) est exceptionnel.A garder précieusement comme un petit tresor .
P**E
Excellent !
Drôle, triste, émouvant. On cherchait, et on a enfin trouvé de dignes successeurs à Keaton, Etaix, Tati ... ! Ne pas manquer de voir aussi "Rumba", de la même équipe.
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On occasion the main action is outside through a window, and yet, somehow, this doesn't just make it funnier at times - the performances and story-telling are done with a brilliant cleverness - somehow you’re drawn in even more, as you are not being spoon fed, but are, to an extent, forced to engage your own mind and imagination.The actors are so brilliant, and so committed to their deadpan characters, that a yawn - a sustained yawn - can lead to guffaws of laughter.I’m writing this review because I saw some one star reviews. These are written by stupid people, with no souls, and no sense of beauty or wonder. One might argue it would make the world a better place if they died, but of course they’re not really alive anyway. So you can safely ignore their one star reviews (written from their zero star lives.)The film is a fable, and thus is universal (again, to anyone with a soul), speaking to the insatiable drive of a Hillary to climb Mount Everest, or of a man determined to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower with toothpicks – or something equally illogical – or, indeed, of anyone with a passion accompanied by an inkling of the synchronistic connections that can make decisions driven by illogical yet overpowering passions the most perfect ones.I am grateful that these people put their time, talents, and energies into this great work of great beauty.Austin Washington"},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"3.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"G***E"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2018","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n Endearing If Slight Entertainment. Extreme Low Budget Fantasy/Adventure.\n \n","reviewBody":"This duo is an acquired taste. I saw their film \"The Fairy\" first---then forgot I'd seen it, then realized I had just before it ended the second time around, a couple of years later. In a way they're like a sophisticated Three Stooges or a silent Marx Brothers; they bring a low budget high art mien to the telling of often convoluted fantasies where the distinction between reality and fantasy are blurred. Their circus background shows, well. There's a certain acrobatic quality to their stunts and a grace in their practiced clumsiness. And there isn't generally a lot of dialog so if you don't like foreign language films, there isn't a lot of reading to do.Then again, it's as French as a baguette. I watch Chinese films and marvel at how the story telling form is so much like American films, and then see a French film like this and marvel at how different the French are in telling a story.In this film a woman, Fiona Gordon, is inadvertently locked overnight in a restaurant's walk-in freezer, illustrating why modern ones have interior latches. Although she is rescued with no apparent damage, she does suddenly have a desire to be cold, to get closer to cold things. She pursues this to the extreme, physically abandoning her family (featuring her real life partner Dominique Abel, the director) which had already seemed to have abandoned her, in her efforts to find an iceberg, her island paradise. There is no expense that has not been successfully avoided in the filming of this movie, no short cut and money saving effort that has not been expertly executed. Low Budget is the very nature of these adventures, and it is, in spite of its budget an entertaining film, although I still prefer \"The Fairy\"."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"4.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"D***S"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2019","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n Strange, Amusing, Fun, Understated\n \n","reviewBody":"This is an unusual film in so many ways but mostly because it resembles life. The crazy day to day struggle is represented by a mother and wife who suddenly runs into the desire to escape her routine of cornered averageness. This film probably would be a bit subtle for the average American which is why most audiences in the States haven't heard of it but for those who adore cinema, they will find it a rewarding time spent with the characters in the quixotic chase to become something new out of an ordinary existence. There is one gag after another which will tickle your funny bone though it may not have you bellowing out loud with uncontrollable laughter (though it could very well at that). It satisfies with the cute ending and will probably leave you a bit more touched than expected. There is a depth here to it but overall pretends to be a very light film."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"F***N"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2016","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n Comedy Show.\n \n","reviewBody":"It's what's on the screen that counts.L'iceberg is pure movie making. Movies should be made by showing the action, not talking about the action. And what both Fiona Gordon and Dominique do is tell their story by showing. The two add a Capital S to the words ShowWhen Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were the king of comedies during the silent era, moviegoers didn't care if they heard words or not. All they care about was the action on the screen: the visual presentation told the story, not the words. L'iceberg is made in the same style as silent movies in the 1920s. As a result, this movie is brilliant to watch. And I sit and watch a movie. I don't sit and listen to a movie. So to say, the least, this movie is worth watching. It's hysterical. And well acted, not only by Gordon and Abel, but also Bruno Remy."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"N***A"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2015","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n Before The Fairy, there was The Iceberg\n \n","reviewBody":"Spoiler alert: Since I saw _The Fairy_, I love everything Abel, Gordon and Romy have done. I discover something new on every viewing.I bought this movie on DVD because who knows how long it will stay on Prime. Philippe Martz as the perennial foil in these films (he's brilliant in _The Fairy_) is a joy here, as are the senior citizens who help Fiona. These films may confuse some people because there are no bad guys. The filmmakers hold a gently optimistic world view that for a moment makes you forget your troubles.I can't wait to see what this trio produces next!"},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"4.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"P***K"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2015","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n Happiness in a walk-in freezer\n \n","reviewBody":"A quirky movie indeed. Fiona, a fast-food manager gets locked in the walk-in freezer overnight, her family apparently didn't notice. I think she becomes obsessed with cold and leaves her family in search of an iceberg. Sound a little quirky? Very little dialogue, the film relies greatly on sight gags and physical comedy. The lead actress must have had bruises after filming. There is some very brief, non-sexual nudity. I found the film humorous and enjoyable to watch."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"P***E"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2018","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n A brilliant new take on old-style physical humour\n \n","reviewBody":"For me this is a brilliant film with a uniquely attractive style, and very funny - although it’s clear that not everyone is in tune with this type of humour. It’s a homage to the simplicity of the early days of physical comedy, to Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, but Gordon and Abel - along with their equally talented co-writer-director-actor, Bruno Romy - developed in this first full-length feature a format that is very much their own. Visually it’s highly colourful and the special effects are unashamedly naive, using early techniques such as back-projection and models to remove the whole thing several steps from reality.The acting is deadpan, sometimes acrobatic, often absurd and effortlessly amusing. I love the opening shot which is a long, talking-head introduction in Inuktitut (with subtitles!) by a young woman, a native of the frozen north of Canada, in which her natural smile keeps breaking out and is completely irresistible. It sets the tone wonderfully for the rest of the film - the message is, relax, this is just fun, a fairy tale. Sit back and enjoy.And by the way, my Region 2 DVD player (European) coped perfectly well with this American DVD."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"4.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"M***N"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2012","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n All regions DVD\n \n","reviewBody":"I wanted to see this precursor to \"Rumba\" but was worried it might not play properly, being region 1 and NTSC encoded according to other info I had seen. No such problem - it's region 0 so plays in any country, and the colour rendition was fine on my DVD player. I loved the film - imaginative, funny, delicate emotions - classic theatre."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"K***M"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in France on January 19, 2013","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n Super film!\n \n \n","reviewBody":"Super film belgeDéjanté et drôle à souhait,ce film caracterise bien le cinéma belge. Surprenant,ce film a été tourné en France à Barfleur ......juste à côté de chez moi. Une belle histoire bourrée de Jolie,tristesse et éclats de rire. Les personages sont criants de vèrité et de folie."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"N***I"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in France on May 10, 2010","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n très bon film franco belge\n \n \n","reviewBody":"Plein d'humour et de burlesque dans un univers à la Jacques Tati et à Aki Kaurismaki (à voir aussi le film \"rumba\"). Le trio des acteurs (dont 2 sont aussi les realisateurs) est exceptionnel.A garder précieusement comme un petit tresor ."},{"@type":"Review","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","ratingValue":"5.0"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"P***E"},"datePublished":"Reviewed in France on April 6, 2012","name":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n Excellent !\n \n \n","reviewBody":"Drôle, triste, émouvant. On cherchait, et on a enfin trouvé de dignes successeurs à Keaton, Etaix, Tati ... ! Ne pas manquer de voir aussi \"Rumba\", de la même équipe."}],"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","ratingValue":4.545454545454546,"bestRating":5,"ratingCount":11}}
