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I thought any film documenting the "Great North" would be boring. After all, what can you say about snow, ice, and freezing temperatures? You can imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered that this is actually a beautiful and informative documentary!!
This film was originally released as an IMAX movie.
This documentary has a main narrator but at brief spots narration is taken over by Adamie Inukpuk whose Inuit family has lived in the north for several generations. Adamie tells us about his grandfather "Nanook" (meaning "the Great White Bear"), a skilful and knowledgeable Inuit.
The film also looks at animals of the north that the Inuit revere: caribou (or "tuktu" meaning "the wandering ones.") Among other things, we're told that:
"Over a million strong, the [caribou] herds of northern Quebec and Labrador [both located in Canada] are the largest assembly of migrating mammals on Earth."
Also looked at and discussed are the analogue of the Inuit: the Saami of northern Sweden. They revere the reindeer, known as "the caribou's close cousin."
Interesting black and white archival footage is also shown. (A portion of this footage shows the building of an igloo.)
Most of the background music throughout is traditional music (Saami singers, throat singers, etc.) thus enhancing the viewer's appreciation of what is shown. And the photography and cinematography are fantastic!!
Finally, the DVD itself (the one released in 2008 on Blu-ray) is perfect in picture and audio quality. It has four extras.
In conclusion, as I said above, this film was an unexpected surprise since it details adequately a land few are familiar with!!
(2000; 41 min.; wide screen, 12 scenes)
<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>
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