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We are honored to interview the director of ‘Breaking Ice’, Anthony Chen, and we appreciate his choice of Cooke lenses and his time for this interview. His unique perspective and creative journey have brought us valuable insights, allowing us to delve deeper into the story behind this remarkable film.
The creation of ‘Breaking Ice’ was filled with serendipitous events. Originally, the director planned to shoot another film in Europe, but due to changes in the actors’ schedules, this plan was delayed by six months. Before that, he had been at home for two years during the pandemic, longing to make a film. Finally, he decided to immediately start creating, and thus, ‘Breaking Ice’ became a project born out of impulse. To achieve this goal, he cornered himself and limited his options. With little time to prepare, the film had to start shooting in December.
To challenge himself, the director chose a climate and environment he had never filmed in before. He selected an unfamiliar region—a remote northern city called Yanji, having only been as far north as Beijing before.
Anthony Chen reflects: « I told the DP and the entire crew that everyone faced a huge challenge. Whether it was the art department, costumes, hair, or makeup, no one had enough time to prepare. The entire team had to constantly discover and create on the fly, pushing themselves to their limits. We decided to shoot the entire film with a single lens, which indeed drove the camera team nuts.
Shooting in the depths of winter meant stepping in thick snow. Instead of just changing lenses, the entire crew had to move. I remember this amazing shot where I wanted to capture the relationship between the characters and the landscape, with the snowy mountains. To achieve this, we had to move the camera to a higher position. At that time, we didn’t even have a tripod and had to mount the camera on a huge lighting stand to get the required height. We didn’t opt for changing to a different focal length lens but kept moving the whole camera team, which made them a bit resentful towards me.
During lenses testing, we tried 32mm, 35mm, and 50mm focal lengths, and eventually settled on a 40mm lens because it closely mimics the human eye’s view of the world. I had never shot an entire film with a single lens before, but during our hurried preparation, I found the visual effect very comfortable. The film felt free and natural, as most of the shots were handheld. This shooting method brings great comfort, allowing viewers to easily immerse themselves in the imagery, and the visual effects are truly stunning.
I wrote a scene involving a bear because, during my research on Yanji, I discovered a famous Korean legend about a bear and a tiger. In the legend, the bear and the tiger prayed to the gods to become human. The bear persevered for 101 days under the gods’ test, and eventually, the gods transformed her into a woman. This woman gave birth to a prince, who became the founding father of Korea. This legend is well-known in Korea, and they consider themselves descendants of the bear. I thought this story was so beautiful that I decided to include it in the film.
This film is quite different from my previous works, which were mostly social realist films. ‘Breaking Ice’ has many dreamy moments and a surreal quality at times, and yes, it does feature a bear. Of course, we didn’t use a real bear but had a people in a blue suit for those scenes. »
‘Breaking Ice’ is a film born out of accidents and challenges. It showcases the creativity and adaptability of the team under extreme conditions and their relentless pursuit of art. Despite the uncertainties and difficulties in the creative process, these experiences made ‘Breaking Ice’ a uniquely captivating film. Often, great creative potential and beautiful surprises lie within constraints and challenges.
