“The Ice Tower”, interview with the director Lucile Hadžihalilović and the actress Marion Cotillard

February 21, 2025

Lucile Hadžihalilović, director. Marion Cotillard, actress . "The Ice Tower". A modern dark and cold take on Andersen's tale "The Snow Queen". A tale of obsession and power.

"The Ice Tower", interview with the director Lucile Hadžihalilović and the actress Marion Cotillard Angelo Acerbi

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Lucile Hadžihalilović comes to the Berlinale 2025 , in competition, with her new film “The Ice Tower” starring Marion Cotillard. the film is a personal take on Hans Christian Andersen‘s fairy tale The Snow Queen, that was a favourite of the director when she was a kid. With extreme aesthetics and a dark sense of beauty, the film is daring and intriguing. We talked with the director on it and with Marion Cotillard for her portrait of a cold and heartless woman, at least it seems…

Setting the film in the 70’s was a narrative necessity

Lucile Hadžihalilović reveals that her choice to set “The Ice Tower” in the 70’s came from the need of using some of the simplicity and possibility of belief that was still typical of those years, when we lived without internet and social media and cellphones , where we could still believe in the magic of unknown things and iconic personalities.

Building a personal fake back story to the character

Marion Cotillard reveals how she built the character of the cold Cristina, in ” The Ice Tower“. Marion invented in her head a detailed back story for her character, that neither the director or anybody else knew, made of failures, pains, victories and losses, so that she had a basket of emotions to pick from when acting. All of this knowing how dark, and cold and merciless her character needed to be.

Plot

Colder than ice, her kiss pierces the heart ... It is the 1970s and, drawn by the lights of the city in the valley below, 16-year-old Jeanne runs away from a children’s home high in the mountains. She takes refuge in a film studio which she secretly explores at night. By day, the film The Snow Queen is being shot there, starring the enigmatic Cristina in the title role. Jeanne falls instantly under the spell of the beautiful, tormented star. A mutual fascination develops between the actor and the girl. Little by little, Jeanne starts to play an increasingly important role in the shoot. As her obsession with the Snow Queen’s realm grows, between set and screen, film and reality merge in a magical, labyrinthine game. But there is a price to pay. Does Jeanne love the Snow Queen enough to make the sacrifice she demands?

Written by: Angelo Acerbi

Guest

Lucile Hadzihalilovic