‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz.
It’s Thanksgiving, 1973, and in New Canaan, as elsewhere, kids have come home from school and families have gathered to celebrate the traditional start of the holiday season.
That’s the backdrop of The Ice Storm, the 1997 masterpiece of suburban affluence, family dysfunction and quiet desperation. Directed by Ang Lee, the screenplay written by James Schamus was adopted from the 1994 novel of the same name by former New Canaan resident Rick Moody.
The Ice Storm was filmed primarily in New Canaan; in fact there is so much of New Canaan presented on screen – Town Hall, the Metro-North Station, the old Varnum’s Pharmacy, Saxe playing fields, the (original) New Canaan Library, and several Mid-Century Modern homes nestled in our hilly woods – that it is difficult to imagine any other town filling the void.
The Carver home in “The Ice Storm.”
Ironically one of the few scenes that was not shot in New Canaan, the infamous Thanksgiving night “key party” gathering, was actually filmed in Greenwich.
The Ice Storm featured a mix of then seasoned and up-and-coming actors, including Kevin Kline and Joan Allen as Ben and Elena Hood (701 Laurel Road), and Jamie Sheridan and Sigourney Weaver as their best friends and neighbors, Jim and Janey Carver (581 Laurel Road); filming at both addresses included exterior and interior shots. Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes and Allison Janney rounded out the outstanding cast.
TheCarver home in “The Ice Storm” today. Photo courtesy of Nick Williams, board governor, NCM&HS
The film grossed only $16 million worldwide, but was highly acclaimed critically, including receipt of the Palme d’Or for Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival and Gene Siskel lauding it as his favorite film of 1997.
Siskel’s partner Roger Ebert captured its tenor thusly:
“There is a sense of gathering tragedy symbolized in one scene where a child balances on an icy board over an empty pool. When disaster does strike, it releases helpless tears for one of the characters; we reflect on how many very things he has to cry about. Despite its mordant overtones, the film is often satirical and frequently very funny and quietly observant in its performances, as when the Weaver character takes all she can of Klines’ musings about golf, and finally tells her lover: ‘You’re boring me. I have a husband. I don’t feel the need for another.’”
And New York Times’ critic Janet Maslin commended Lee and Schamus for their take on females:
“The Ice Storm shows particular empathy for the women of this well-heeled Pompeii. And it elicits mournfully fine performances from actresses coming to terms with the film’s shaky era. Ms. Weaver shows both hard glamour and desperation in a brittle, striking role. Ms. Allen, especially poignant and graceful, conveys the sad dignity of a woman who can’t help being well behind her changing times. And the talented Ms. Ricci makes Wendy a touchingly real malcontent and a ticking time bomb. The story’s legacy rests with her.”
The ending of The Ice Storm is a veritable gut punch to the stomach, but ultimately there is closure for at least one of the New Canaan families that provides audiences with some measure of reflective redemption (Rick Moody was reportedly so pleased with the film he sobbed through the credits).
Other movies have been shot principally in New Canaan, including Revolutionary Road (2008), and The Stepford Wives (2004), but The Ice Storm is a singular, remarkable film that brings to life the decadence of 1970s suburban America with delicate humor and bittersweet pathos.
Nick, I appreciate how nicely you’ve connected the film and our town in this story. Great photos, too!
This was a great read! I loved this movie long before moving to New Canaan, and I’ve always been curious about the house locations. Thank you, Nick. And thank you to the NCM&HS for excellent content like this, and to the Brown Harris Stevens team for sponsoring it. New Canaan is the source of endless fascination.
Nick great job did not move here till 1987
But was in Stamford at that time.
The ice storm was one of a kind
Nothing since. Power out for a week in some areas, Ice as tick as 1 to 3 inches
on the trees. Every time we have any Ice
I think of that storm.
Nice house 😊☺️
Aside from the aesthetics of the film which I’m sure were quite good; the infamous “key chain” parties betrayed a collapse of morality and marital fidelity which are the foundation of traditional society.
Some see a striking, well-acted film based on a novel; others see the collapse of America
Please don’t put words in my mouth, I spoke of the elements of moral collapse indicated by the plot review: “… two families in an affluent Connecticut suburb experiment with adultery and substance abuse over one Thanksgiving weekend.” These are disturbing elements. Many locals found Moody’s commercialization to be brazen and unfounded with most of the residents of the town at the time. I remember the ice storm then, it was challenging to get through but not deadly in this town as the film wants to portray.
The Hollywoodesque scenes were at best indicative of a tiny segment of the town’s life then. Most of the people enjoyed their properties, their gardens, horses and pets and the churches and social life and were responsible citizens not flaky and decadent drug users with open marriages.
My recollection is only one of the (adult) protagonists participated — and it was hardly a joy ride for her. You should see the movie. You might even agree with it. But it’s only art, even if you don’t.
Masterpiece? Seriously?
If you want to get depressed fast then watch this movie.