"Captures the unpredictable flux and ennui of modern Chinese youth through a tale of three lost characters finding each other (and finding themselves) over a handful of days in a place where culture itself seems to shift with every glance." - Siddhant Adlakha, Joy Sauce
"Rather than crack, “The Breaking Ice” melts with an ephemerality that makes the moment at hand seem especially important to hold onto when it seems so fleeting." - Stephen Salto, Moveable Feast
In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China’s northern border, young urbanite Haofeng, visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana, a charming tour guide who instantly fascinates him. She introduces him to Xiao, a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. The three bond quickly over a drunken weekend. Confronting their individual traumas, their frozen desires slowly thaw as they seek to liberate themselves from an icy world. Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice is a free-spirited and compelling portrait of modern Chinese youth.
