The Breaking Ice (2023) is a critically acclaimed Chinese-Singaporean drama directed by Anthony Chen. It takes place in Yanji, a small winter-bound city on China's northeastern border with North Korea. In this film three lost twenty-somethings—a drifting Shanghai visitor, a tour guide, and a frustrated restaurant worker—form a tentative, drunken bond over a weekend. The three characters finding momentary, yet fleeting connection —not solving their problems, but experiencing a brief reprieve from them through each other's company.

The film is set in Yanji, located in China's Jilin province along the North Korean border. The city's unique identity is central to understanding the film's atmosphere of dislocation. There is a large ethnic Korean community descended from immigrants who settled in China during and after WWII. The city exists in a liminal space straddling two realms—Korean and Chinese, belonging fully to neither. This in-between quality mirrors the psychological state of the three protagonists, who are themselves displaced and searching for belonging.

The Breaking Ice is important in contemporary Chinese cinema for three key reasons. First, it represents a successful model of cross-border collaboration—a Singaporean director (Anthony Chen) making a Mandarin-language film set in China with Chinese stars, which received official approval and international acclaim. This demonstrates how filmmakers can operate within the system while maintaining artistic integrity. Second, the film offers a rare, poetic portrayal of youth alienation in a borderland setting (Yanji, an ethnic Korean city in northeastern China), capturing the quiet desperation of China's post-1990s generation without relying on overt political commentary or social critique. Third, its selection as Singapore's Oscar submission and Cannes Un Certain Regard premiere signals the growing international recognition of Chinese-language art cinema beyond the Fifth and Sixth Generation masters, paving the way for a new wave of transnational filmmakers working with Chinese stories and talent.

This Film Club is convened by Peter Valerio.

Film

The Breaking Ice​燃冬 (Singapore, China)

Directed by

Anthony Chen​ 陈哲艺

Language

Mandarin, Korean and English with English and Mandarin subtitles

Starring

Zhou Dongyu​ 周冬雨

Liu Haoran​ 刘昊然

Qu Chuxiao​ 屈楚萧

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