The Savage Innocents

In the late sixties, bob dylan was asked how he came to write the song "Quinn the Eskimo". He replied that he'd seen this movie in which Tony Quinn played an Eskimo. The Savage Innocents is that movie. (In a much later book about his lyrics, Dylan says he doesn't remember how the song came about- like many of us, ol' bob's memory ain't what it used to be.)

This is the most accurate portrayal of Eskimo customs ever to come out of Hollywierd. It contrasts the cultural practices of Inuit and North American societies at a time when many Inuit people had not yet encountered the white man and his ways. The movie asks the question "who is savage and who is innocent?" The movie is full of memorable performances and "sound bites". You'll come away with a new appreciation for traditional Eskimo culture and more than a few new quotable quotes.

When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everybody's gonna jump for joy!

I saw and heard Anthony Quinn in a television interview about his autobiography which had just been published. He said that there were only three films out of the many that he had made in his life that he was truly proud of. The Savage Innocents was one of the three. (Guess what the other two were. Right! Zorba and La Strada.) This estimation puts this movie in with some very select company. And this film deserves it.

It is NOT a documentary. There is a story here, an exciting story, at times edge of your seat--or maybe I should say, a number of stories, all interesting, all moving. The photography, sound, scenery, acting, all were excellent.

What struck me most, out of a long list, was the way the point of view of these Inuit people was gotten across. For instance, the missionary butts his head into the igloo and says, "God be with you." Quinn looks puzzled, glances at his wife and says, "No, there's nobody here but us." When the missionary goes on preaching at them, trying to convert them to the "true" faith, Quinn whispers to his wife, "I think he needs to laugh with a woman. Make yourself beautiful." In other words, the guy needs to get laid. The Freudian insight implied by these simple remarks is staggering. And this is only a small sample.

Perhaps the fate of this movie had a lot to do with the advertising. The picture at the top of this page suggests that this is a "savage" movie. It isn't. The title itself is unfortunate.

Yes, when oh when will we get to see this movie again? When will the savage and not-so-innocent moguls deign to put this beautiful film onto DVD?

Inuk is a lonely Inuit hunter making ends meet in the barren, unforgiving wastes of the arctic regions by hunting seals and bears. So begins the glacial odyssey of one man against two worlds, his own and that of white man. In many ways a "northern", the frostbitten equivalent of the western (a genre director Nicholas Ray was familiar with), THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS shares many of the same themes and ideas with that most quintessentially American of genres - survival in a savage landscape, the frontier of civilization, the cultural clash between different civilizations. Yet no sight of spurs, stetson hats or six-shooters to be found in the movie. What other proof do we need that such ideas are universal?

Filmed in the arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, and presenting us with a faithful and loving documentation of Inuit traditions and life, Ray on one hand captures the sheer monumental beauty of the harsh arctic wastelands with a kind of Kubrickian grandeur, while on the other reserving for his characters the utmost sympathy and affection. The stark realism of the uninviting climate contrasted with the good-natured predisposition and unpretentious simplicity of the people living in it. Realism meeting halfways with humanism in a movie that is as humorous and touching as it is cerebral, part survival grit and part mythological folklore.

And then white man comes into Inuk's world. With his rifles, his loud rock'n'roll music, his missionaries preaching their god, his weird customs and laws. That doesn't mean that what precedes Inuk's encounter with the white men of a trading post and the preacher living there is an idyllic utopia - Inuk is ready to club another man to death for taking the woman he planned to make his wife. Still it would be easy to sneer sarcastically from the comfort of our modern homes at the primitive customs of Inuit. "In the age of the atom bomb", says the voice-over narrator, "these people still hunt with bow and arrow". Indeed they do; they also leave their elders alone to die in the snow when they become too old to contribute to the household anymore and they leave their firstborn babies to die unless they are male, so they can take care of them when they in turn grow old. But such is the nature of their lives and the environment they live in.

Anthony Quinn's performance as Inuk is fantastic, equal measure good-natured forwardness and unreserved honesty. A man as likely to offer you his wife as he is to bash your brains in for refusing her. Peter O'Toole (two years before LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) in the role of the officer sent to arrest Inuk for the murder of the preacher doesn't match Quinn but he's a nice addition to the cast. The most dramatically poignant moments in the film come from their interactions as Inuk struggles to comprehend the crime he is accused of. "But my Fathers' laws have not been broken" he says when he is informed he broke the law and will have to be taken back for trial. "When you come to a strange land, bring your wives, not your laws" is what Inuk's wife tells the officer.

A great, great movie I can't recommend enough to fans of tales of survival in stark environments, different cultures and their folklore. NANOOK OF THE NORTH and DERSU UZALA are advised to look out for it.

This is an extremely powerful and stunning movie portraying Innuit Eskimos and the way their living habits clash with our sensitive Western "civilisation". It is extremely annoying not to be able to find it in either VHS or DVD format. Hopefully this will be put right soon. A must for Anthony Quinn fans!

This movie serves primarily to showcase the versatility of veteran actor Anthony Quinn, who has portrayed characters of almost every ethnicity (Italian, Greek, Mexican, Native American, Arab,Filipino, just to name a few). Here he plays the role of Inuk, a typical Eskimo (Inuit) who lives and thrives in one of the harshest of climates, the Arctic, a perennial wasteland of ice and snow, where they have to subsist on the raw flesh of the native fauna such as seals, walruses and fish, as well as endure subzero temperatures and utilize the scant resources at hand. Yet for all the unforgiving nature of the environment, the Inuits are depicted as a warm-hearted, cheery lot who are content as long as they have sufficient food to go around and have the company of friends and relatives, and - in the case of the men - a woman to snuggle up to under the blanket and "laugh" with (a euphemism for carnal relations). Yet this wonderful cinematographic masterpiece is not without its flaws. Though the Eskimo culture is quite alien to most 'city slickers', one can obviously observe the inaccuracies and misconceptions of their way of life generated by this film. For instance, it is hard to believe that Inuk and his wife could be so naive as not to know that a baby is naturally toothless at birth which is not the result of some broken taboo, nor can viewers find it conceivable that their customs dictate that the old and infirm are mercilessly abandoned to exposure to the elements (or to be devoured by polar bears in this instance)when they begin to pose a burden to the family. That said, one can't help but empathize with the character of Inuk (whose name actually refers to all Inuits in general), admire his hunting prowess and survival skills, laugh at his foibles and follies and understand his adherence to traditional customs as that is all he knows and believes is right. It is also an insightful study of how the influence of white Western ways have a paradoxically beneficial and detrimental effect on indigenous cultures,as seen in the part where Inuk and his family visit the trading post.For those who prefer to concentrate only on the negative aspects (thereare indeed some stomach churning scenes such as the missionary beingserved food infested with maggots, which the Inuits consider gourmet,and the unseen but implied slaying of a dog to save a man's life), a second and perhaps third viewing is highly recommended.