The Ice Storm

Ang Lee’s 1997 film The Ice Storm is based on Rick Moody’s novel of the same name. Set in suburban Connecticut over Thanksgiving weekend in 1973, it follows two upper-middle-class families, the Hoods and the Carvers, as their personal lives begin to unravel. Beneath the surface of wealth and comfort are unhappy marriages, distant parents, and teenagers experimenting with sex and drugs.

The ice storm itself isn’t just a weather event but a turning point in the story. It forces the characters out of their routines and exposes the cracks in their relationships. Lee wanted the storm to reflect the emotional freeze in these families — people who want connection but don’t know how to achieve it.

Visually, Lee and cinematographer Frederick Elmes highlighted the divide between order and chaos. The first half of the film emphasizes control and surface appearance: tidy houses, stylized 1970s interiors, and careful framing. When the storm arrives, the film’s tone shifts, and the natural environment becomes overwhelming, pushing the characters into more vulnerable situations.

Lee has said he was drawn to the story because it deals with a time of social change. The early 1970s brought new ideas about sex, family life, and individual freedom, and he wanted to explore how those shifts affected ordinary households. Rather than offering neat conclusions, the film shows the lasting impact of miscommunication and emotional distance in families.

Ang Lee first collaborated with cinematographer Frederick Elmes on The Ice Storm (1997), where Elmes’s subtle lighting and naturalistic style helped highlight the film’s themes of distance and isolation within suburban families. Their partnership continued with Ride with the Devil (1999), Lee’s Civil War drama, which again relied on Elmes’s ability to balance intimate character work with broader atmospheric visuals.

Elmes was already highly regarded before working with Lee, having shot David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977) and Blue Velvet (1986), as well as Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth (1991) and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). His grounded, textural approach brought a quiet visual power to Lee’s restrained storytelling. While Lee would later team with cinematographers like Rodrigo Prieto (Brokeback Mountain, Hulk) and Dion Beebe (Gemini Man), his two films with Elmes stand out for their careful attention to atmosphere and mood.