Salinger and "The Ice Storm"
Jonathan.Moritz@utas.edu.au
Wed, 29 Apr 1998 12:57:28 +1000 (EST)
Being intimately familar with Salinger texts, we all find it easy to see
common aspects to other works (fiction, movies, religious ideas). It seems
to me the Kieslowski thread is a nice example where we can use our
observation of commonalities to share with each other our favourites (or
guide their reading/viewing list, as in Hapworth), without the implication
that the author of the work had the Salinger allusion in mind.
Tiril's comparison of Holden and the boy in "The Ice Storm" reminds me of a
large number of tenuous Salinger similarities in the movie which, for me,
heighten my joy at viewing this stunning movie. Balance and falling, for
example. The strongest link is an empty swimming pool and a scene where a
boy seems likely to fall in, and the boy, rugged up in red for the cold,
spends a good deal of time almost slipping on the ice, but enjoying testing
his balance. The main action takes place over a few cold days, with the
narrator, a boy about 16, who has a non-experience involving sexual
interest but avoiding action. Some poeple view the movie as bleak, but I
think the children offer a ray of hope. More obliquely, an indifidelity
bed scene has, as I recall, a rather prominent green ring (Pretty Mouth and
Green My Eyes). Such associations, though perhaps not scholarly, at least
bring joy to the amateur reader/viewer.
By the way, the new Australian (Tasmanian) film "The Sound of One Hand
Clapping" works nicely as a patchwork of memory, though the
story/characters fade a bit in cliches at times.