Northern Lights

In Northern Lights, events which threatened to supplant the 19th century Mid Western Scandinavian immigrants from their farms are inextricably wound around images of light, cold and bleak yet rich landscape in a hostile world. The film effectively transplants the cozy viewer onto a frigid plain that makes him shiver and gasp at the audacity and courage of a people determined to survive under the worst conditions. And yet not only do they survive, they develop a kind of weed-like tenacity that finds sustenance in the most unlikely places and makes us wonder wide-eyed at their ability to prosper. Theirs is a community threatened by powerful interests who would ride on the backs of those men and women who already bear the burden of an almost unbelievably heavy load. Through it all, we admire the beauty they have found, the simplicity of their tenacity, the magnificence of the Northern Lights in an already deep and mysterious sky. The people in this drama are themselves the Northern Lights who settled a region. This is film-making and storytelling at its best.

Yes, this is a fantastic film, an excellent piece of historical narrative (by the way, it is set in the early 20th century, not 19th as chadport put it). I saw it when it first came out and I've been looking for this ever since I got a DVD player but to no avail. This is a forgotten piece of history about what amounted to a popular take-over of government in the northern plains. This movie explains, for example, why North (or maybe it's South) Dakota is the only state with a state bank, and the Democratic Party in Minnesota is the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party. If ever there was a time when European-style social democratic ideas were put in practice in America, this was it. Another way of putting it: if we wonder what would happen if government were truly controlled by the people, this movie shows it well. There are lots of reasons why powerful people would not want this to be a popular movie -- which is precisely why it needs to be in wide distribution!

I am a descendant of Norwegian farmer immigrants to Minnesota, from the late 1800's, and loved Northern Lights. I just watched another movie called "Sweet Land" from 2005, that is more than similar to Northern Lights, and equally as good! Sure wish my grandpa was still alive to see them both,as they were a mirror of his life. He was born in 1883 and passed away in 1983 at 100.

Socialism was very popular back then as the farmers were often cheated out of a fair price for their crops. As a result many desperate farmers went on to participate in the fledgling communist party of the day, as did an uncle of mine, who moved to Canada and held the number 2 spot there in the 1940's.

My wife and I saw _Northern Lights_ on its release in a movie theater in the ante-VHS/DVD/Web era, and both share the view that this is a great film. It brings to mind Howard Zinn's _People's History of the United States_ in that it immerses us in an authentic American narrative that has generally not appeared in the mainstream, either historical or cinematic. It's over thirty years since I've seen it, so I can only report the memory of my feelings, and I recall being stirred and drawn in, emotionally engaged, feeling that this movie was a real work of art. It came up recently when we were discussing a visiting friend's ancestry. I'm bummed that it's apparently unavailable? On Amazon, the VHS tape is selling for a low of $74 and a high of $132.09. Doesn't this price suggest that there's a market for this film out there, so WOULDN'T IT MAKE BUSINESS SENSE to put it out on DVD? If anyone reading this knows how this works, maybe they could pursue it. Yoo-hoo, Criterion Collection?

I saw Northern Lights years ago on VHS. I was extremely pleased with its gritty reality, sensitivity to Norwegian immigrants, and awareness that something very important happened in the frigid north lands in the early 20th Century. There is a certain realistic world view among North Dakotans. Add to that a sense that people can work together to survive. Since the film is not available, I'm forgetting the look of the photography. But do remember how striking the black, white and gray seemed. It suited my memory of childhood farm life on the plains. I have looked for a DVD source of this movie for a long time, and am glad a friend recommended IMDb.com to me as a way to find someone who knew about it. It is unknown to most people whom I ask about it. As a North Dakota native, I want this work released on DVD.