Ice

I agree with Jans that the personal focus on Balog was a distraction in Chasing Ice. The audience response after the film when Balog joined the crew on stage made it seem obvious that most audience members viewed him as the film's central character. And maybe in an individualistic culture such as the U.S. it makes sense for a filmmaker to have a strong central human character in a film. However, for me, the ice and the natural landscapes in this film were so powerful and mesmerizing that I saw nature as being the films central character, and I really started to become frustrated when the focus of the film shifted from nature on a large scale to focus on the minutia of one individual human experience.

I do understand that without Balog's determination and his devotion to this subject that we'd never have these beautiful images. So, I am grateful to him on that level -- but his work is so much larger than what he is and it would have been nice to see it stand on its own.