THE ICEBREAKER, tells a story, apparently based on true events in 1985, of a Soviet ship which gets stuck in ice and is in danger of being hit by an iceberg, all the while waiting for help which, due to Soviet bureaucracy, may not arrive in time.
The strongest point of this film are the visuals: some of the landscape scenes, whether real or CGI, are simply breathtaking. There is also personal drama involving two rival captains which is used to convey social commentary on Soviet culture and the various inefficiencies and injustices it brought about.
Unfortunately, the lousy dubbing kept taking me out of the movie. Technically, it is so bad that at points we know exactly when the original sound is being silenced so that we can hear the dubbed voices. The first time I heard it, I laughed out loud at this amateurishness, which stands quite in contrast to the rest of the film. Also, a kid in the film was dubbed by an electronically distorted adult voice, which sounded just bizarre.
The ridiculously poor quality of the dubbing made it hard for me to evaluate the dramatic aspects of the film because it kept taking me out of it. It also gave me reason to doubt the quality of the translation. At least the overall story, interlacing personal drama with sociocultural commentary, is a good one, and that is what I went by.
This film is mainly for fans of maritime drama and those who enjoy beautiful icy landscapes, but either way, if you do not know Russian, watch the subtitled version.
