Customer Reviews

Far North [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Maybe I watched a different movie than these reviewers!

The Far North that I watched was a story about an isolated
deteriorating farm family in Minnesota who have all gone
a little "off." It is artfully filmed and is at times
experimental. For me though, the experiment is a success.
I highly recommend this movie and I think it is some of
Sam Shepard's best writing.

This isn't an in depth review. It's just that I am startled to see such a low rating average for such a terrific movie! It is emotionally deep, quirky, and funny. My movie collection count is well into four digits now and this movie is in at least the top twenty of my favorites. I didn't think that I was so different from the average movie addict. Then again, I love "Dogville", and not just because I'm smitten by Nicole Kidman.

For some reason, recalling this movie always brings to mind "Where The Rivers Flow North". Perhaps only because it is another of my most favorite movies that I haven't yet upgraded to DVD or BRD due to high price or not available. (I'm working on it - just got Del Toro's "Cronos" in DVD. Hurray!)

Regards,
EdB

I grew up in Duluth and can say this movie is like visiting my relatives. I bought the laser disk when it came out and still watch it from time to time, just before I head up north to visit! It's hilarious! Sam Shepard made a classic here, although Thunderheart is better, I highly recommend this movie to those who have strayed away from home for better careers since there isn't a thing to do in Duluth, except watch the tourists come and go.

Really the only reason that I bought this product was the fact that Jessica Lange is in it. I think She is an amazing actress, and she is in fact the reason that I would want to watch this film again and again. She is, as always, great and funny in this film. But I do overall think that it is an interesting piece in it self too.

I don't know why I love this movie. Maybe it's the family interaction or maybe it's the weird humor. Maybe it's the horse. A Minnesota family, a horse, and the world going by.

This is not at all your run of the mill flick. Written and directed by Sam Shepherd, it figures. Set in the far north of Minnesota, we find our hero getting thown by his horse in the first scene. The next scene brings the daughter from far away in the the city to visit her father in the hospital. Between his IVs and his Oxygen mask, the father makes his daughter promise she will shoot the horse. And the plot goes on. Very funny to those of us, like me, with a warped sence of humor. And Shepherd definately gets his digs in re modern society ie the lack of men! I am content to watch most movies just once, but this one is a keeper to view over and over again.

Just Got This,Played Perfectly On My Sony.
Was Impressed Right Away,With The Video & Sound Quality.
Another Great Film With Durning,Now If Someone,Hopefully A Sudio Company Will Release 2 Film's With Durning.
My Pick's Are(Twilight's Last Gleaming)&(The Man Who Broke 1000 Chains)2 Great
Movies.Charles Durning,A 1 of A Kind Great Character Actor,Who Entertains Alot of Us,To This Day.Very Happy To Get This Movie & Recommend It.

What a debacle!!! This film directorial debut by Award winning playwright/actor Sam Shepard is a shameful waste of time and talent.

During the full moon cycle in The North Woods off of Lake Superior a family reunites when the patriarch,Bertram (Charles Durning) is thrown from his horse,Mel. Katie (Jessica Lange) comes from "the big city",pregnant and unwed to her father's side. He asks her to shoot the horse.......and it just plummets downhill rapidly after that!

This was the most unpleasant and painful 88 minutes that I have spent with a film in a long time.This film is essentially about the bizarre folk of Northern Minnesota who descend from the wild ancestor mongol hordes. The women have gone wild. They do not need men and have survived in spite of them.The men have worked their entire lives on Lake Superior and want things the way they "used to be." That's it! This film explores THAT theme.It is ridiculous.It plays very much like a stage play.The filming is static and lifeless. The actors, which include Tess Harper,Ann Wedgeworth,Donald Moffat and Patricia Arquette seem uncomfortable in their own skins.This is without a doubt one of the worst and most misconceived movies I have ever seen. It plays much like CRIMES OF THE HEART, but with none of the sensitivity and fondness for the characters or situations. There are continuity errors galore (the horse racing sequences that horse racing fans would instantly know were incorrect).

This film tries to be funny,but it misses the mark everytime. Bizarre and eccentric families have often been the fodder for film, but as many times as it has been done FAR NORTH cannot even begin to rank with any of them.

This film is ONE COMPLETE MISS (or MESS!)

Back in the late 60's I attended a college in Superior, Wisconsin. I was from Philadelphia, Pa and had never experienced the cold and long winters near the small city of Duluth, MN. I met hard drinking people there (there's nothing else to do), blond as Jessica Lange with Scandinavian or Polish accents, many of them. There were good people and bad. The men worked the port ships or the railroad yards. The blizzards were like nothing I have ever seen.

Charles Durning gets a fat man's star turn. Dunning has been thrown by his farm horse and wants the animal shot by his daughter, Jessica Lange. She protests, but agrees to shoot the animal. She's back from the Twin Cities where she works as a professional woman with one in the oven. The old man is in the hospital with wild delusions about the horse, his Alzheimer wife, and life on the farm and it's bitter cold. The drunken Uncle sidekick doesn't help either. Also, there's the younger daughter, unmarried with a teen daughter. The teen, blond as her sisters, is soon to get it on with as many young hockey players as possible.

This is Sam Sheppard's first directorial film with plenty of farce, which gets heavy handed, so the viewer never really gets a grip on the emotional lives of these crazy folks. Maybe that's it. Their lives by Lake Superior are so harsh, they cannot communicate a sensible thought. Nevertheless, Far North is a snapshot of an out of the way, beautiful place that will interest the curious.

"Far North" is a cute film that I recommend any Jessica Lange fan to watch. Also, anyone who is a "Minnesota" fan will also enjoy the film. Filmed in and about Duluth, MN - this film does give you a "feel" of life in the Northland with a twist of humor and "dizzyness"! I think it is a great film! Cheers!