by Lisa Beal
(real-life model for Claire “Fingers” Furinski in the television drama)
MY RATING: 2.5 stars of 5 possible
AIRED: Sunday, 20 April 2003, 9-11pm EDT
PRODUCED BY: A Muse Entertainment Production with US distribution by Miramax Television and Jaffe-Braunstein Films
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Harvey Weinstein, Howard Braunstein, Michael Prupas
PRODUCER: Clara George
DIRECTED BY: Roger Spottiswoode
WRITTEN BY: Peter Pruce, Maria Nation
CAST
Player=(Character)=[Counterpart in ICEBOUND book]
Susan Sarandon=(Dr. Jerri Nielsen)=[same]
Aidan Devine=(“Big” John Penney)=[same]
Cynthia Mace=(Claire “Fingers” Furinski)=[Lisa Beal, computer technician]
Steve Cumyn=(“Trash”)=[James "Pick" Evans, waste specialist]
Lorne Cardinal=(Barry Columbus)=[ROUGHLY: Floyd Washington, utility/repairman]
Carl Marotte=(Jacques Albrecht)=[ROUGHLY: "Nuclear" Nick Starinski,scientist]
Kathryn Zenna=(“Galley” Annie)=[COMPOSITE: Wendy Beeler and Donna Aldrich-Hooker, cooks]
Kristen Holden-Ried=(“Lunar”)=[COMPOSITE: ?]
Paulino Nunes=(Rafe Pollard)=[Mike Masterman, station manager]
Linlyn Lue=(Sarah Kemp)=[COMPOSITE: ?]
Richard Waugh=(Hugh)=[COMPOSITE: ?]
Benz Antoine=(Morris)=[COMPOSITE: ?]
Gina Clayton=(Dr. Miller)=[Dr. Kathy Miller]
Kenneth Welsh=(Ben)=[Dr. Wil Silva]
Joe Pingue=(Pixel Pete)=[COMPOSITE: ?]
Aaron Abrams=(Patient #2)=[COMPOSITE: ?]
MOST FAVORITE ASPECTS OF THE FILM
Sets/buildings:
Appearance/scale/coloration was 100% authentic (except as noted below)!
Amazing attention to detail, down to the awful 1970-vintage wallpaper.
It made me homesick for Pole!
A little liberal license was used for the doctors quarters (opened up for camera access/angles; the real doctor’s quarters real door and is less spacious than the movie version)
Ditto for the galley/90 South Club set. In real life they are not on the same floor.
Costumes:
The real thing (NSF patches visible, etc.) Just as well: it was COLD during the making of this film. All involved get kudos for filming under physically demanding conditions.
Location:
Again, excellent choices: no trees visible, snow everywhere, etc.
LEAST FAVORITE ASPECTS
Props:
Computer and camera gear was not at all like the real thing.
By all appearances, setting up the satellite links was easy.
Airdrop scene:
The scene show a string of five snowmobiles where many more were used in the real airdrop.
All equipment used in the real airdrop recovery left and return to the dome via the garage arch. My guess: there was not enough time/money to do the garage arch set. Too bad!
Personalities:
It is a shame that none of the actors (or, at least writers) had a chance to talk to the real Polees, particularly Ms. Sarandon and Mr. Devine (who portrayed the doctor and “Big”, respectively).
Even an hour or two watching Polee television appearances would have aligned their performances with reality. In early 2001, these folks were all over the dial, gang! Anybody who remembers their interviews will know you ‘got it wrong’.
By all accounts in the book — did any of these folks even READ IT? — it would have been WAY out of character for Big John (ever the gentleman) to burst in on the doctor while she was showering.
As for Susan Sarandon’s portrayal of Dr. Nielsen as whiny, bitchy and insensitive at almost every turn, I can only say that she never would have portrayed Dr. Nielsen as such a disagreeable and unlikeable person if the two of them had met before the filming. Perhaps that was the doing of the writers, perhaps Ms. Sarandon misinterpreted the personality of the doctor (or put too much of herself in the part). Anybody this disturbed would have been filtered out of the selection process by psychological exams long before they ever reached Pole.
The secondary and minor characters were generalized composites of several people in the book, except for ‘geek in residence’ “Fingers” Furinski (who clearly represents me) and “Trash” (who is just as clearly “Pick” Evans).
To sum up: “thumbs up” for portrayals of “Fingers” and “Trash”, but for Sarandon’s vitriolic portrayal of the doctor, an upraised finger (yes, THAT finger!) to the actress/writer/director responsible. [Pardon my 'polar restraint'. Maybe, THAT'S where the name "Fingers" comes from! :^) ]
Accuracy:
While sets, costumes, and most props are true to form, the words and pronunciation are downright incorrect. A brief conversation with Polees (or a visit to a dictionary, for “Pixel” Pete’s sake!) would have avoided crazy-sounding verbals goofs (like saying SKWAH vs SKOO-ah for the name of the Antarctic scavenger bird, in reference to the “Elvis” category of recyclables).
Also, the departing doctor leaves in November, not just before the station closes for the winter. The “ask if you do not know” rule applies. (NSF or the 1999 winterover crew would have gladly helped out, and it probably would not have cost more than a few emails or phone calls). Again, poor use of resources hurt the quality of the result!
Tidbits:
HUGH IS LOST scenes portray Polees as unnecessarily careless. Everybody who goes outside at Pole must carry a radio when leaving the safety of the buildings (or the dome). I assure you that the moment Sarah discovered Hugh, she would have called Comms to call off the search. SIDE QUESTION: How come Hugh, Sarah, Rafe, and Morris don’t have nicknames?
BATHROOMS at Pole are co-ed, for the most part, but have enclosed stalls. The doctor never would have seen Big John’s (or anyone else’s) private parts outside of the context of a medical exam.
THE BIG NEWS of Doc’s [possible] cancer was broken at a weekly all-hands meeting, not a poetry slam or other social event.
PAPER FLOWERS were not delivered with the airdrop. Doc got the real thing!
THE ROVER CAM — a video camera with robotic controls and auto-tracking of a memorized shape (like a person’s face) — was never shown in the movie.
“FINGER MAGIC” was never seen here! Fingers is shown with a garden variety camcorder and laptop, making the whole technical side look easier than it was. The task of getting the computer, microscope, and videoconference systems was definitely not “plug and play” on the mid-1990 vintage gear we had at Pole. The setup was not as easy as putting together the off-the-shelf webcams or computer-happy microscopes of today (2003).
Another thing: “Fingers” did not do this alone. Folks like astronomer Charlie Kaminski and handyman Ken Lobe were equal partners in the success of both the pre-airdrop and post-airdrop microscope-computer-videoconference systems.
THE 300 CLUB never had bathing suits. Folks were ‘butt naked’ when they joined, and the initiation was co-ed. No ‘dance around the May Pole’ here. And by the way: the fabric of a sauna-soaked suit would probably rob the body of tremendous amounts of heat, a very bad idea at -100F. This stunt is actually LESS dangerous in the buff (except for boots, of course).
On a personal note: it only got below -100F twice during the 1999 polar winter. The first time was 05 May 1999 and the real ‘Fingers’ was serving (and taste-testing) margaritas in the galley. She had just enough alcohol in her to realize she was not in a good condition to do the 300 Club. On the second occasion, chemo sessions were in full swing, so ‘Fingers’ was not willing to risk injury when she was needed for the videoconferencing: frostbitten fingers were not an option! If I ever get back to Pole, I really WOULD like to join the 300 Club!
THE POETRY SLAM was started by Big John Penney and others, not Dr. Kathy Miller. Kathy was, however, delighted to embrace this aspect of Polee life.
GREEN SOCKS were not our gift to Doc. We threw a ‘hat party’ to make the most of her new hairless look. Where life handed her a lemon, we tried to make lemonade (to voice our support of our brave friend).
THE HEAD SHAVING was not something Big did. Several of the women on station did this to keep Doc’s hair from looking clumpy as it came out in big lumps. We wanted to help Jerri put the loss of her beautiful head of hair behind her quickly (as well as get good samples of hair for a wig she would likely get in New Zealand on her return stateside. It was an act of kindness, and Big would have helped because he has a big heart (the REAL reason for his nickname). For what it’s worth, Susan Sarandon looked more like Doc in this scene than in any other in the movie; her physical resemblance to Jerri is uncanny, and represents an excellent casting.
SATELLITE FADES were purely digital, and did not manifest themselves as snowy pictures. Too bad nobody asked us!
“SIT SHIVA” AND MOURN FOR SEVEN DAYS is probably not an accurate description of what ‘Fingers’ would do. (I did ‘cry little ice cubes’ while leaning on the fire shack (one of the orange buildings under the South Pole dome) as Jerri left.
NO FULL ROTATION of staff happened when the rescue plane arrived. Also: the weather was foggy with very poor visibility on that day. The difficulties faced by the rescuers were played down tremendously (and this is a shame)!
THE SUSAN KOMEN FOUNDATION public service announcement (PSA) that Susan Sarandon made after the movie was very appropriate. Hats off to whoever made this happen!
Ditto on the Y-Me PSA at the midway mark (at least on WBBM here in Chicago).
BARRY OR BURY? – Is it my imagination or is the name Barry Columbus (“the southernmost Cree man”) a play on the phrase “Bury Columbus?” Could this be a subliminal message to native Americans? Inside humor? Inquiring minds want to know.
Visit Lisa Beal’s homepage to learn more about her Polar Pals Program. “The purpose of the Polar Pals program is to share the excitement of polar exploration with our children, the future custodians of our planet. It is my hope that by sending them postcards from afar that I can stimulate their interest in geography, science, and other studies of the world around them.”
