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Product Description
Amazon.ca Canadian Essential
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner is the first feature film made in the Inuktitut language. Based on an ancient Inuit legend, it's an epic tale of love, betrayal, family, and survival played out against the harsh and barren white landscape of the Far North. Noteworthy for its cinematography, performances, and verisimilitude of the Inuit way of life before their exposure to Europeans. Also notable for how accomplished the film is considering its basic production values.
Amazon.ca
It's a story as old as humanity--one of love, jealousy, and betrayal, both within a family and between two families--but the setting, a starkly beautiful Arctic landscape, is not typical. The Fast Runner tells a ponderous tale of two brothers, Atanarjuat and Amaqjuaq, and their spiteful rival, Oki, who conspires to kill them when Atanarjuat wins the affections of Oki's promised wife, Atuat. Nearly three hours long, the film plays out like an ancient legend told to younger generations in warning. It's infused with a mysticism in which spirits cause the wicked actions of otherwise decent people.
The actors, all Native people speaking Inuktitut (with subtitles), bring a necessary subtlety to their roles that makes The Fast Runner feel more like a documentary than a typical feature film. It's easy to get lost in the drama of this snowy world, where dog sleds are the only transportation and meat is eaten raw, cut straight from the bone. The film's slow pace mirrors the pace of life in such harsh conditions, but the energy of its epic story, spanning three generations and affecting the lives of everyone in the group, is deeply compelling. --Adem Tepedelen
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
What a piece of work!
Jan 17 2003
Format:DVD
One of the best films I have ever seen. This is not a movie for everyone. However, if you have an open mind, enjoy learing about other cultures, and are not afraid to think, then get this movie now. Cinemetography is excellent. I believe that it will be used as a teaching tool in anthopology courses for the next 100 years.
Good stuff.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A terrific film
Feb 10 2006
Format:DVD
This is a fantastic film. It is a little slow at the beginning, but that reflects the nature of the far north; having lived and travelled in the Western Arctic, I can attest to the "slow-pace" of life that most northerners cherish and enjoy. I think it does a great job of capturing many aspects of Inuit culture such as the importance of family, the role of humour, etc. The film is based on a "strong" Inuit story/legend that is complex and involved; it's nice to see this considering that Aboriginal stories are typically stereotyped as short and carrying a "simple" moral lesson for children.
It's a great movie and I would recommend it to anyone. It's a nice change from the usual big-budget films most of us watch regularly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Simple yet beautiful
May 18 2005
Format:DVD
This film is of a quality that normally eludes Canadian film-making, combining mythical elements of Inuit culture with the harsh reality of life in the Arctic. The acting is superb, the directing top-notch, and the script is humourous without sacrificing the gravity of the conflictual situation. The rugged life of the Arctic has never been made clearer than in this wonderful and uncomplicated film.
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Most recent customer reviews
Fast Runner
A rare and brilliant movie of life among the Arctic Native peoples. A must for High Schools.
Published on Oct 17 2009 by F. W. Thornton
Beautiful
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner This is a very thoughtful and understated film. There are no big explosions or other things that are in almost all films today. Read more
Published on Jun 2 2009 by Isabelle Sibley
good
this movie was kind of slow paced, but once you kind of set yourself to that pace, it was pretty good. Read more
Published on Sep 19 2008 by elfdart
Great film, though not enough extras on DVD
Though the film starts off quite a bit slow, and may be a bit too long and 'boring' for many, it ends with finally getting a little more attention and as well as understanding what... Read more
Published on Aug 29 2004 by Anthony Chiu
not a must see
I am a bit confused as to why this movie has won so many awards and gotten all this great press. Is it because its a peek into the world of the Inuit? Read more
Published on Jun 21 2004
MOVIE AROUND THE FIRE
What have I gotten myself into? I'm watching valiant but impossible acting, undoubtedly by some amateurs, in a movie about modern tribal people in the Arctic Circle that is ... Read more
Published on Jun 2 2004 by Guy De Federicis
"Only Atanarjuat runs like that"
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. Read more
Published on April 25 2004 by Sebastian Fernandez
Great film experience
What made this story so great was its span over generations, showing many ways in which people conspire against eachother, and the many ways people respond to others'... Read more
Published on April 24 2004
A Superb Storytelling in Digital Age (and much much more)
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... Read more
Published on Feb 13 2004 by littlelentil
You have never seen anything like it
Watching this movie is a bit like, if you can imagine this, watching a TV movie made by an ancient bronze-age television network. Read more
Published on Feb 6 2004
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