Somewhere buried inside most of us is a yearning to scrap it all and run away to some place where nobody can find us and we can start afresh. Novels have explored this universal quest and this Belgian comedy, which contains plenty of slapstick sequences, does the same with élan and creative vigor.
Fiona (Fiona Gordon) is the efficient and conscientious manager of a fast food store. But one evening she doesn't pay attention and locks herself in the freezer room. She valiantly finds a way to survive the ordeal and is rescued in the morning by other employees. Proud of her capacity to adapt and survive, Fiona is irked that her husband, Julien (Dominique Abel), and two kids haven't even caught on to the fact that she was missing all evening. Realizing that she has nothing to lose and everything to gain by going on a quest to find an iceberg, she leaps into a frozen goods truck and begins her own bizarre grand adventure. Fiona winds up on a tour bus with some elderly folk who live in a quaint little town by the sea.
The first time Fiona catches a glimpse of Rene (Philippe Martz), a sailor, she is entranced. She learns that his sister burned down their house and everyone died. Rene is deaf and doesn't speak. He keeps to himself aboard his little boat, Le Titanique. She gives him a painting of them together aboard his boat and they spend magical hours together at sea until Julien arrives to take her back home. His quest is exactly opposite from hers: to restore their life to normalcy. She has other ideas and a battle between them ensues on the high seas.
This eccentric comedy is written and directed by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy. There are quite a number of wonderful slapstick sequences and many scenes that reflect the artistic team's background in the theater and circus. Fiona's adventure not only has meaning for her, it eventually involves Nattikuttuk (Lucy Tulugarjuk), an Inuit coast guard officer, who rescues the three main characters from icy waters. She rolls them up in tin foil to protect them from the cold and then comments that they look like baked potatoes. Fiona's loss is her gain, and we travel in perfect circle with the delightful finale of Iceberg.
