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Canada · 2008
1h 33m
Director Madeline Ivalu
Starring Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Madeline Ivalu, Paul-Dylan Ivalu, Mary Qulitalik
Genre Drama, Family
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In the Nunavik region of northern Quebec in the 1840's, Ningiuq, a wise and older Inuk woman and her grandson Maniq are dropped off on a remote island, where they dry fish and store it for winter, and return to find their community decimated by smallpox.
But if the movie's documentary function tends to trump its narrative one, the directors nevertheless manage to locate great reserves of sadness in the material, tapping a particularly rich vein in the wrinkled look of resignation on actress/co-director Ivalu's face.
The problem here, though, is that the movie often feels fat instead of lean. A terribly purple folk score by Kate and Anna McGarrigle hypes the spiritual aspects of the Inuit way of life; you’ll die laughing on the tundra.
As the movie’s title implies, everything is about to change for these two. These are the last happy days before destructive modernity encroaches.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Frustratingly sketchy partly because it is not finally a survival tale but a mystical evocation of the power of Inuit mythology, and how the passing down of ancient wisdom can sustain the human spirit in the direst circumstances. But the unanswered questions still nag.
First he was her prince... now he's her hero.
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