Lila Littlewolf (Upham) is a young Mohawk woman who is estranged from the tribe but even more contemptuous of American culture in general and national governments in particular, insisting that she can do as she pleases on Mohawk land no matter what side of the border it falls on.
The paths of these women cross when Ray, searching for her husband, sees Lila, who works at a gambling club, driving off with her husband's car. A shot through the door of Lila's trailer gets the young woman's attention, and when she realizes she can't keep the car she tells Ray she knows someone who wants to buy it.
Before she knows it, Ray finds herself driving across the frozen St. Lawrence to Mohawk land in Canada, where her frantic need for money to pay for bare essentials (the standard family breakfast consists of popcorn and Tang) as well as that new trailer leads to involvement, almost against her will, in a scheme to smuggle immigrants into the U.S.
One of the strengths of "Frozen River" is the way it initially emphasizes how unlikely partners, like fire and ice, these two exceptionally tough women are. Ray is furious about her husband's disappearance and anyone connected with it, and the sullen Lila is mad at the world and given to saying biting things like "I don't usually work with whites." These two don't want to be on the same planet, let alone work together, and their powerhouse confrontations are the heart of the film.
Yet, due to the vagaries of smuggling, these women end up spending considerable time with each other, and that proximity leads to a kind of guarded familiarity. Lila's anger at her situation is so intense it inevitably leaks out, and we gradually hear her story as well.
Though they don't necessarily see it themselves, we come to understand how much these exhausted women, both tired of being on the short end of the stick, have in common. One of the questions "Frozen River" asks is how much that communality will mean in the context of an uncaring, unforgiving world. It is a powerful question, and the film answers it in the best way possible.
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kenneth.turan@latimes.com
"Frozen River." MPAA rating: R for some language. Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes. In limited release.
