{ "id": "ep47mza869", "slug": "frozen-1997-film", "title": "Frozen (极度寒冷) (1997 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s", "label": "Drama films 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s", "label": "Drama films late 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s.yr-1995-1998", "label": "Released 1995 to 1998", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s.yr-1995-1998" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000: Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Frozen (极度寒冷, Jidu hanleng) is Wang Xiaoshuai's 1997 Chinese independent drama about performance artist Qi Lei's four staged deaths ending in an \"ice burial\"; shot 1994, pseudonym Wu Ming, Rotterdam festival film.", "snippet": "Frozen (极度寒冷, Jidu hanleng) is Wang Xiaoshuai's 1997 Chinese independent drama about performance artist Qi Lei's four staged deaths ending in an \"ice burial\"; shot 1994, pseudonym Wu Ming, Rotterdam festival film.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1990s.drama-films-late-1990s.yr-1995-1998", "markdown": "# Frozen (极度寒冷) (1997 film)\n\n*Frozen* (极度寒冷, *Jidu hanleng*, literally \"Extreme Cold\") is a 1997 Chinese independent drama film written and directed by Wang Xiaoshuai (王小帥), starring Jia Hongshen (贾宏声) and Ma Xiaoqing (马晓晴). It follows a young avant-garde performance artist in Beijing who stages a sequence of four symbolic deaths across the solar terms (24 seasonal divisions of the traditional East Asian calendar) of the traditional calendar, culminating in a planned real suicide that he calls an \"ice burial\" (冰葬)[1](https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7) • [2](https://xw.qianzhan.com/ent/movie/4e84e76e.html). The film was shot in 1994 as an unauthorized independent production, completed in the Netherlands in 1997, and released under the pseudonym Wu Ming (无名, \"No Name\")[3](https://m.eeo.com.cn/2010/1015/182761.shtml) • [4](https://www.chineseshadows.com/wang-xiaoshuai). It is a central work of China's independent \"underground\" cinema of the 1990s and of the Sixth Generation of Chinese directors[5](https://journal.kci.go.kr/ksclc/archive/articleView?artiId=ART001245487).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Chinese / English title | 极度寒冷 (*Jidu hanleng*, \"Extreme Cold\") / *Frozen*[1](https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7) |\n| Director and writer | Wang Xiaoshuai, credited under the pseudonym Wu Ming[4](https://www.chineseshadows.com/wang-xiaoshuai) |\n| Cast | Jia Hongshen as Qi Lei; Ma Xiaoqing as his girlfriend; with Li Geng, Liu Jie, and Zhang Yongning[1](https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7) • [6](https://movie.sogou.com/movie/mzuwy3k7giydanbzbg6kxnwixkxmbza.html) |\n| Production | Shot in Beijing in 1994; post-production funded by the Rotterdam Film Festival and completed in the Netherlands in 1997[3](https://m.eeo.com.cn/2010/1015/182761.shtml) • [7](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng) |\n| Release | 23 October 1997 (Netherlands); screened in the Tiger Competition at the 1997 International Film Festival Rotterdam[1](https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7) • [7](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng) |\n| Format | Mandarin language, 16mm, color; runtime reported as 90 minutes by IFFR and 97 to 99 minutes by Chinese databases[7](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng) • [8](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7%E3%80%8B) |\n| Crew | Cinematography Yang Shu; editing Qing Qing; producers Shu Kei's Creative Workshop and Anotherfilm; world sales Fortissimo Films[7](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe protagonist Qi Lei (齐雷), a young avant-garde artist played by Jia Hongshen, designs a performance work in four parts tied to the solar terms: a simulated earth burial on the day of Liqiu (the beginning of autumn), a simulated drowning on the winter solstice, a symbolic cremation on Lichun (the beginning of spring), and finally, on the summer solstice, the melting of a huge block of ice using nothing but his own body warmth[2](https://xw.qianzhan.com/ent/movie/4e84e76e.html).\n\nAfter the first three parts attract attention from the media, fellow artists, and passers-by, Qi Lei announces that in the final part he will end his life for real, naming the act an \"ice burial\" and framing it as a protest against the coldness of society[2](https://xw.qianzhan.com/ent/movie/4e84e76e.html). When his girlfriend (Ma Xiaoqing) and friends learn of his intention, they try hard to talk him out of self-destruction[1](https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7). A second version of the synopsis adds a twist: what they do not know is that the determined Qi Lei is a pawn of an unseen backstage manipulator, and his performance is itself one piece of a larger \"performance art\" containing a conspiracy[2](https://xw.qianzhan.com/ent/movie/4e84e76e.html).\n\nThe [Rotterdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/rotterdam) festival synopsis frames the story psychologically: as the normally hot longest day of the year approaches, Qi realizes that it is not the block of ice that is so cold, but his surroundings[7](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng).\n\n## Production and censorship\n\n**An underground production.** Wang Xiaoshuai, born in Shanghai in 1966 and a directing graduate of the Beijing Film Academy (1985 to 1989), had made his self-financed black-and-white debut *[The Days](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-days-1991-film)* (冬春的日子) in 1993[9](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2004-02-03/1355290610.html). After that film was blacklisted, he shot *Frozen* in 1994 with inadequate funds and equipment, describing the method as a hand-workshop style of filmmaking comparable to the New Wave[10](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_5737990122_15602c7ea01900qeao.html). In interviews he has said the film grew out of the 1994 suicide of a performance artist, which had a wide impact, combined with his own depressed mood and the atmosphere of society at the time[10](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_5737990122_15602c7ea01900qeao.html). A scholarly account describes the film as a fictional re-creation of that suicide, adopting a minimalist documentary style (*jilu fengge*)[11](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781317420590_A30905204/preview-9781317420590_A30905204.pdf).\n\nBecause the film was an independent production without state approval, it was illegal in the eyes of the Film Bureau, and the subsequent outlawing of unauthorized filmmaking forced the director to hide behind the pseudonym Wu Ming[12](https://www.timeout.com/movies/frozen-1). Wang has explained the pseudonym as a way to protect the release of his suspended earlier project *Biandan, Guniang*[13](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?doi=bcad43b567fc30f10d975433c600fe3267783b4a&repid=rep1&type=pdf).\n\n**Post-production abroad.** Wang finished shooting in 1994 but had no money for post-production and set the footage aside; he then made *Biandan, Guniang* in 1995. The Rotterdam Film Festival learned of the unfinished film and invited him to complete post-production in the Netherlands, which he did in 1997 while waiting for the censorship of his other film[3](https://m.eeo.com.cn/2010/1015/182761.shtml). The consequences followed him: after *Frozen* was completed in 1997, he was penalized again, made to write self-criticisms, and fined 10,000 yuan[3](https://m.eeo.com.cn/2010/1015/182761.shtml). In a later recollection he counted three self-criticisms written over his career, for *The Days*, *Frozen*, and *[Beijing Bicycle](https://www.edgepedia.org/beijing-bicycle)*, with fines totaling 20,000 yuan[14](https://www.eeo.com.cn/2012/0201/220079.shtml). The film could not be released in China, and Wang remained barred from directing until the state relaxed its position; in late 2003 and early 2004 he spoke publicly about the lifting of the ban on directors like himself[9](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2004-02-03/1355290610.html).\n\n## Release and reception\n\n*Frozen* premiered internationally in 1997 and was screened in the Tiger Competition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam[7](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng). Sources disagree on its exact awards. A 2004 Sina profile states that *Frozen* won the FIPRESCI international critics' prize at the 1997 Rotterdam festival[9](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2004-02-03/1355290610.html); the production company's biography records a Special Mention by the jury in Rotterdam[4](https://www.chineseshadows.com/wang-xiaoshuai); and the abstract of a 2002 journal article on the film lists a Special Prize of the Americas at the 21st Montreal International Film Festival and a Best Director award at the 27th Rotterdam festival[15](https://cnki.istiz.org.cn/kcms/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFD&dbname=cjfd2002&filename=DYPJ200210032). The film subsequently played at festivals in Canada, Britain, and Germany, according to Wang's filmography[9](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2004-02-03/1355290610.html).\n\nCriticism has emphasized the film's treatment of death. A study of Wang's career describes *Frozen* as telling a contemporary story about suicide in an almost cruel way, and notes that death or the threat of death occupies an important place across his films[16](https://wkkk.net/library/chapter/61435/8.html). Berenice Reynaud's review, published in *Art Forum* and translated in Sina Entertainment, called the film a fictional story shot like a documentary, offering a rare insight into the turbulence of contemporary Chinese society and the predicament of \"this generation\"[17](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/2002-06-24/88623.html). Academic work has read the film as an expression of post-[Tiananmen](https://www.edgepedia.org/tiananmen) despair, noting that its staged death evokes the traditional trope of restless ghosts and the difficulty of memorializing victims of state violence[18](https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/30123/1/Young%20Kaufman2018.pdf).\n\n## Legacy\n\n*Frozen* stands as the second feature of one of the central figures of China's Sixth Generation and a key document of the underground film era of the 1990s, when independent productions could not be shown legally at home and their makers risked fines, self-criticism, and bans[5](https://journal.kci.go.kr/ksclc/archive/articleView?artiId=ART001245487) • [3](https://m.eeo.com.cn/2010/1015/182761.shtml). Its lead actor Jia Hongshen died on 5 July 2010, at the age of 43[19](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1927030/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [極度寒冷, 中文百科全書](https://www.newton.com.tw/wiki/%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7)\n2. [极度寒冷 电影基本资料与剧情简介, 前瞻网](https://xw.qianzhan.com/ent/movie/4e84e76e.html)\n3. [独立战争：王小帅访谈, 经济观察网 (2010)](https://m.eeo.com.cn/2010/1015/182761.shtml)\n4. [WANG Xiaoshuai, chineseshadows](https://www.chineseshadows.com/wang-xiaoshuai)\n5. [An Essay on the movie of Wang Xiaoshuai, The Journal of Study on Language and Culture of Korea and China 15 (2008)](https://journal.kci.go.kr/ksclc/archive/articleView?artiId=ART001245487)\n6. [极度寒冷 高清电影页面, 搜狗电影](https://movie.sogou.com/movie/mzuwy3k7giydanbzbg6kxnwixkxmbza.html)\n7. [Jidu hanleng, International Film Festival Rotterdam 1997](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1997/films/jidu-hanleng)\n8. [《極度寒冷》影片檔案, 百科知識中文網](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E6%A5%B5%E5%BA%A6%E5%AF%92%E5%86%B7%E3%80%8B)\n9. [地下导演王小帅谈解禁, 新浪娱乐 (2004)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2004-02-03/1355290610.html)\n10. [王小帅：中国断层式快速发展，真的对每个人都有益吗？, 新浪新闻](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_5737990122_15602c7ea01900qeao.html)\n11. [The Routledge Companion to World Cinema (2018), preview](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781317420590_A30905204/preview-9781317420590_A30905204.pdf)\n12. [Frozen (1997) review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/frozen-1)\n13. [Representations, Practice, Spectatorship (independent Chinese cinema survey), CiteSeerX](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?doi=bcad43b567fc30f10d975433c600fe3267783b4a&repid=rep1&type=pdf)\n14. [中国独立电影之\"廿年一梦\", 经济观察网 (2012)](https://www.eeo.com.cn/2012/0201/220079.shtml)\n15. [李学武：《极度寒冷》中的死亡与阴谋, 电影评介 2002年10期, CNKI](https://cnki.istiz.org.cn/kcms/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFD&dbname=cjfd2002&filename=DYPJ200210032)\n16. [《当代华语电影人物论》第8章 王小帅：回味青春里难忘的故事](https://wkkk.net/library/chapter/61435/8.html)\n17. [影评：一个虚构的故事拍得像一部纪录片（Berenice Reynaud）, 新浪娱乐 (2002)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/2002-06-24/88623.html)\n18. [Young, Kaufman (2018), University of Edinburgh thesis on trauma in Chinese film](https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/30123/1/Young%20Kaufman2018.pdf)\n19. [极度寒冷 Frozen (1996), 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1927030/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1990s › Drama films late 1990s › Released 1995 to 1998*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Frozen (极度寒冷) (1997 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Frozen (极度寒冷) (1997 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Frozen (极度寒冷) (1997 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/frozen-1997-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Frozen is Wang Xiaoshuai's 1997 Chinese independent drama about performance artist Qi Lei's four staged deaths ending in an \"ice burial\"; shot 1994, pseudonym Wu Ming, Rotterdam festival film." }