Customer Reviews

The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat)

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Filmed in Northern Canada in the Inuit language, this film is based on a myth that has been passed down through the generations. This isn't a documentary, it is an epic story, and all of the actors are Inuit. The cinematography is magnificent, and brings the frozen North to life as never before seen on the screen. Using an almost entirely Inuit cast and crew, with financial assistance provided by the National Film Board of Canada, it won the Camera d-Or for best feature at last year's Cannes International film Festival. It's a cinematographic work of art and an impressive film.

At almost three hours long, the story takes its time to unfold. The beginning is confusing, especially for an audience with no background in the Intuit culture. It takes a while to distinguish the differences between the characters and it's hard to follow the myth of the two baby brothers, whose father was not a good hunter and was therefore ridiculed in the community. Time passes though and the two boys grow up to be strong and able men. There is murder, jealousy and revenge, with a signature scene of the central character, Atanarjuat, running for his life naked though the ice and snow. All the actors are excellent and their performances display physiological complexity. I could relate to the story despite the different cultural trappings.

As the film takes place in an indeterminate past time, way before Europeans ever set foot on this land, every single tool and detail of Intuit life seems absolutely genuine. We see them building their igloos and living in them, eating raw meat, scraping animal skins, and all the other domestic chores, which provide a setting for a story. There's also humor as they make jokes and sing bawdy songs. Some of the rituals were memorable, such as when two men fight over a girl, the fight takes the shape of each one taking turns punching each other in the head. It is an anthropology lesson as well as an intriguing story and a true learning experience for me. I had to absorb it myself though as no one was holding my hand and explaining things to me, which is both the strength and the weakness of the film. I was plunged right into it, without a background to sustain me, and I had to give up on understanding every single detail and just relax and let the story happen.

I loved every moment of the film - the characters, the story, and, especially the place. But I was still confused when it was over. The story seemed to be grounded in reality and yet there was talk of spirits. Some of the characters were introduced and not developed and there were places in the story where there seemed to be holes. It made me want to see it again and hope to get it right the second time.

In the closing credits, there were some great shots of the cast and crew during the filming. We saw the sled mounted cameras and the way the scenes were filmed and were again introduced to each of the Intuit actors, this time clad in leather jackets and sunglasses. It made me think that there will certainly be some very special features on a future DVD, one that I might like to own.

I definitely recommend this film which I saw it in a modern theater with the latest in surround sound and large screen. It's an immersion in a culture that has always fascinated me and I yearn to know more. Just be prepared for something different. Be prepared to be confused. And, mostly, be prepared to love it.

I once heard Sherman Alexie, the brilliant Coeur d'Alene author and film maker, in a conversation at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco call film the "new oral tradition." Few people sit in story circles now, but television and film are accessible to most people. Film is an excellent format to tell the old stories to the new generation.

Atanarjuat, an old Igloolik legend is beautifully filmed and soulfully acted. I was completely caught up in the story and the wonder of the arctic environment . The film is visually stunning and deserving of the awards bestowed upon it. The legend of Atanarjuat, an Inuit man known as "the fast runner," is one in which the moral truths are as valuable today as they were to the early Inuit. Greed, mendacity, cruelty, disrespect for cultural and spiritual taboos, and abuse of power all cause a peaceful group of early inhabitants to suffer needlessly until circumstances finally force the balance to swing back into harmony. People who find the courage to say "enough is enough" and stand by that decision are able to bring their community into balance. They accomplish this with forgiveness but stern consequences for the guilty.

I work in a gallery devoted to the art of the Canadian and Alaskan Inuit. The art allows seasoned elders and young people to earn a living and to express their memories and stories of their rich history and spiritual tradition in modern sculpture, carving, masks, prints, and textiles. I was delighted and grateful to see this film produced and acted by Inuit people. Some of the actors have never worked from a script before, but they are engaging and believable in their roles. Film is another medium for creative people to keep their stories and traditions alive.

The cinematography has been lauded and deservedly so. The beauty of the arctic birds and creatures and the snow and ice are integral to the appreciation of the human story. Every frame matters. Kudos to the art department. The sets and costumes and props are all exactly right. The soundtrack is an additional delight..

I saw this movie last night and made it all the way to bedtime without words. After having a chance to sleep on it, it is now starting to sink in how truly amazing this movie is. You will be first blown away by the fact that this movie even exists. It is truly unprecedented in every sense of the word. I don't remember seeing anything like it. the only movie remotely close is "Nanook of the North", which is a huge stretch. Unlike "Nanook", this movie is shot from the Inuit perspective, by the Inuit themselves (90% of the participants in this production were full-blooded Inuit. This is a first), and the characters are not looked upon as anthropological specimens. They are real people living in a fragile existence, where any wrong move could mean sure death.

The actors are astonishing, and it must have been so terribly cold up there. You know this must have been a huge labor of love for the production team. (According to the end credits, two crewmen died making this movie) The scenery is astonishing. It is a beautiful story based on an Inuit legend that exists on many different levels and subplots, etc. All told on the frozen tundra without ANY indication given about the timeframe, or even the century, in which it was set.

I am just astonished at the painstaking attention to historical detail. I have read many books on Inuit culture, and most everything I have read was visualized in this movie, the social structure, the power of the patriarch, the constant looming of starvation, the role of the hunter/husband, the insubordination of women (pre-arranged marriages), the obsession with taboo and curses, the fine art of building igloos and staying warm in -60 temps, and yet, through all the hardships, there was so much happiness. They even showed how the dogs were handled and treated, even down to the way the Inuit would slicken their sledge rails by spitting small amounts of water on them until a layer of slick frozen ice formed, which makes the sledges slide easier over the pack ice.

One aspect I noticed was how the movie was TOTALLY devoid of the influence of the white man. Their knives were made from caribou horns; they had no metal tools or metal cookware, which indicates that the movie was purposely based on a time before the Inuit's first contact with the white man.

It has a slow start, it's only fault. You will be a bit confused at first, trying to understand the characters and what exactly is happening, but then it starts to really suck you in, you begin to love the protagonists, who are physically beautiful people, and then you will grow to hate the antagonists, who are mean and undesirable. Afterwards, you will realize again that almost all of these people, cast and crew, were full-blooded Inuit. You will then want to immediately see it again and demand a documentary on the making of this film. You will want to know who these people are, what they do in their normal lives, because most of these actors are making their big screen debut. The end of the movie gives you a quick behind-the-scenes peek, but it serves as only a small appetizer to a bigger feast. Most importantly, your respect for their pride and perseverance of their culture will increase ten-fold. This movie is worth owning and watching repeatedly and recommending it to a good friend or two. I don't know the people who made this film, but I am proud of them for pulling this off, and doing it so astonishingly well. There is nothing else like it.

A murder mystery set in the far north and recorded in an Inuit language... sounds like a long shot. Sounds almost certainly boring.

In fact, this is one of the most visually striking movies I have ever watched. Many scenes are world-class, and a few are among the most remarkable ever recorded: not just the arctic scenery, which is strange and sublime, but the igloo interiors, the now-famous run accross the ice, the many lingering close-ups in which no acting is evident, the low sun seen through and off of snow... Suspend disbelief and watch this movie.

Beyond the visuals, I have to say that the acting, which achieves a very enviable transparency and un-self-conscious immediacy, drew me to these characters like no other movie since Derzu Uzala. When the screen went black at the end I felt truly disoriented, as though stepping from one universe to another. The movie is utterly transporting. Hardly a moment wasn't completely convincing. I rate this a work of true originality, creative genius, and clear vision.

All of the terrific reviews below underscored here, BUT:
if you're going to drop $25 for this DVD, spend about $5 USDollars more and buy the CANADIAN "deluxe" version --
it includes a second "making of" disc that adds the trailer, an account of the legend behind the story,
and several other goodies.

There are several vendors in Canada (including www.Amazon.ca)
that carry the two-disc set, and it's a region-1-DVD, so it will play on your US DVD player.

Highly recommended ... gorgeous film --

The beauty of this movie lies in its unique style that pulls viewers up close with the people and the action, allowing us to catch a glimpse of rich Inuit culture and their harsh yet life-sustaining beautiful homeland through seasons. The material culture was meticulously researched and presented as beautiful clothing, ice architecture, and other personal belongings, which are sometimes given hidden meanings for "the Southern" viewers. Maybe our storyteller Zacharias Kunuk intentionally made them more eloquent than the spoken narrative, which is curiously kept minimal. When I first saw it I was often confused about what is happening until I learned more about the legend much later.

I recommend the "Deluxe" DVD set available from www.amazon.ca, which comes with special features including the original legend, the production diary, cast bios, and family trees of Atanarjuat and Oki. You can get the same information from www.atanarjuat.com. Those materials are very helpful to appreciate the movie.

People of Nunavut is fortunate to be blessed with Zacharias Kunuk, a great filmmaker and visionary. I was lucky to be in Canada last summer when I caught three episodes of "Nunavut (Our Land)" on Bravo!, produced by Igloolik Isuma Production in 1995, which tells tales of an Inuit community in 1940s with a style similar to Atanarjuat. I am totally fascinated by the works of Isuma. To learn more about them, visit www.isuma.ca.

This is one of those movies that start out really slow, but if you hang in there and make it through the first forty-five minutes, you will end up satisfied. In my opinion the creators of "The Fast Runner" use the slow pace in the movie as a reflection of the speed at which life moves in the Inuit tribe on which the story focuses.

The movie starts when a demon visits an Inuit group and curses them. At this time, Tulimag is having trouble to feed his family and already starts receiving a treatment that is not the "usual" this society gives to its members. Eskimos are known for their generosity and solidarity, but Tulimag becomes the object of ridicule and he is only given the leftovers from the food the others get. Years later, his two sons are well respected and some of the best hunters in the group. Atanarjuat and Amaqjuart have a good life and are very close to each other. Atanarjuat is in love with Atuat, but she is promised to Oki, who is willing to fight for her. In the meantime, Oki's sister, Puja, is interested in Atanarjuat. The events develop and we get to see the special rules they use in their "duels" and their customs regarding marriages. When a severe tragedy knocks on the door, the adventure picks up in pace and the interest of the audience is grabbed until the end without letting go.

Except for the painfully slow pace at the beginning, this is a highly enjoyable movie. Nevertheless, you have to be in the mood to sit down for three hours and be patient until the events turn into something really interesting. Apart from the story in this particular case, I enjoyed learning about the uses and culture of this society, about which I knew very little. The other remarkable aspect is the photography, which is absolutely stunning! Overall, I think it is a creation worth seeing, but you have to carefully pick the moment to do so.

"Atanarjuat - The Fast Runner," the first-ever film done entirely in the Inuit language, is a three-hour-long epic, ultimately rewarding if you're willing to indulge in it. Done on digital video and filmed by actors from the native tribe near regions of the Arctic, the filmmakers capture images onscreen that were impossible to do before this technology became available. Because digital video doesn't use tape that wouldn't have survived the harsh temperatures of the region, we are able to see things like a group of Inuits on the hunt or a man running completely naked across entirely frozen regions of land. For that alone, the film is fascinating, a landmark in film history.

The story the film portrays, though, is equally as compelling, for it's a tragedy as twisty as anything Shakespeare wrote. Set in a time shortly after the Ice Age, it tells a story that has passed down as folklore.

A tribe becomes infected by evil when a curse hits them. The ruling family of the tribe is particularly corrupt. One member of the tribe, though not a great hunter himself, has two sons of promise, and, when the two grow into men, they hold the fate of the tribe in their hands.

Atanarjuat, the younger son who grows into the fastest runner and best hunter in the tribe, is the object of envy and scorn from the son of the ruling family. Atanarjuat's even in love with that son's intended bride, whom he wins after a tribal duel. Resentment grows within the ruling family as a result of this. And Puta, the daughter from the ruling family, is also in love with Atanarjuat, and she's capable of schemes and machinations.

As time passes, trouble brews, and "Atanarjuat" becomes a sort of Eskimo "Melrose Place." (You're not going to BELIEVE how Puta tries to commit adultery with one brother while the other's sleeping next to her in the same teepee. That was one of the best scenes I saw last year.) It's always compelling, and it works as effective soap opera. But the ambition surrounding the film makes it far greater than that.

Though I don't speak Inuit and likely will never see another Inuit film, I feel as though this was well-acted, well-written and a labor of love for all involved in its making. (The difficulty of the filming is exhibited over the film's end credits, showing how exactly "Atanarjuat" was done.)

It's an interesting, important film, compelling because of its story and significant because it even exists.

The Fast Runner satisfies our need to be taken to faraway places and experience what life is like for people very different from ourselves. With that said, we will not be surpised when we don't completely understand the motivation and behavior of the various characters in the story. The Inuit people of the far north live in a harsh and desolate world. Their survival depends on their ability to work cooperatively with one another for the good of the tribe. To be cast out from the group is tantamount to a sentence of death.

For many of us in the United States spirit and nature are separate realities and we are uncomfortable when spirituality is spoken of as something real. In The Fast Runner it is immediately apparent that the spirit is a living entity for the Inuit in this story and we are challenged to suspend our prejudices and disbelief and allow the story to unfold on its own terms, not ours.

For the Inuit, evil is not an abstract concept, but a living reality, and the tribe in our story must confront and overcome dark forces which threaten their survival.

Once we have let go of our prejudices, the long story of Atanarjuat's struggle to escape from the killers who murder his brother and chase him out of his camp over the frozen landscape makes sense. Atanarjuat does escape from his persuers and hides with an elderly man, his wife, and daughter. Atanarjuat, the fast runner, has injured his feet badly in his escape and needs time for his wounds to heal. Eventually, he is ready to return to his wife and child and when the elderly man receives a spiritual summons, the group breaks camp and returns to confront the evil men who threaten to destroy the tribe.

When the DVD was over I went back and viewed it again to see what I had missed in my understanding of the story. I replayed the introductory twenty minutes several times trying to force Inuit thinking and behaving into my logical American world view. Finally I let go of my need to make the Inuit think like me and instead accepted the fact that I was out of my depths in my attempts to understand people so unlike me living in a world I could scarely imagine without the help of the filmmakers. I enjoyed the experience of being taken to faraway places and experience different realities and I think that those viewers who want to meet the Inuit tribe of the fast runner on their own terms are going to love this film.

Atanarjuat loves Atuat. His father was a bit of a tribal ne'er-do-well, and he is very close to his brother, literally and figuratively, throughout the film, as he courts Atuat, fights for her, wins her, loses her, and returns to her despite the murderous machinations of Oki, son of the tribe's chief.

This film tells a classic tale, but the fact that it is Inuit makes it especially interesting; the pace is different and the light is more stark, a bit like Scent of Green Papaya for the northern climes. The first time the camera opens onto the snow-filled tundra, your eyes will be shocked. The acting is very good, many things can be seen in a look or a smile, and the details of clothing and everyday life are incredible. For a technologized Westerner, it can be jarring to adapt to the pace of the film, but it is filled with drama, love, violence, life and death, and the experience is eminently worthwhile.

DVD features are abysmal, however. I would have *loved* a behind-the-scenes documentary or commentary by the cast and crew, particularly since this is such a rarity -- an Inuit film, but the only extras are trailers for Lagaan, Lawrence of Arabia and Limbo. That's it. A real shame.