Searchers

While noting that this movie has been rightly compared, in concept, to The Searchers (1956), here it's the frozen landscape, instead of the arid hot badlands of John Ford's classic, that forms the forbidding setting.

For much of the 94 minutes of viewing time, we are on, or running with, dog sleds across the frozen tundra: three Inuit men have kidnapped the wife and daughter of an Inuit man; they also killed the grandmother. Together with his son, the two set of in a quest to rescue the women and render swift justice to the miscreants.

The vista passing, and on the horizon, is almost hypnotic. But, there's no sleeping on this journey. Just relentless silence mostly, and punctuated only by the imperative calls of "Hey! Hey!" to keep the dogs moving; and with harsh cloudy breathing as the men work furiously to catch the murderers. Occasionally, they stop to feed the dogs and themselves with frozen meat.

Suspense quickly builds as they find the murderers' tracks as next day dawns. Hours later, the searchers stop while the father creeps to the top of a small hill to search with his telescope. He sees evidence of the bad guys and speeds up the pace. We later see, from the murderers' perspective, that they are now aware they are being followed. So, the gang leader sets up a trap....

The suspense now racks up even more, as you might expect, while the two good guys approach. So now, I must leave it up to you to see the brutal end, and who survives.

Apart from the opening act in the family's igloo, with the three bad guys as guests, the story moves quickly, literally and figuratively. There's nothing false about the setting, the people and the culture, all of which provides an almost semi-documentary aspect to this tale. Indeed, it was knowing the setting which attracted me most, going in: how difficult is it to make a dramatic movie in such frigid conditions, I wondered? I wasn't disappointed.

Highly recommended. Nine out of ten.

August 18, 2019

I loved this film. I loved what it did to me! At the outset of the film, the slow, gentle pace and the beautiful minimalist scenery slowed my pulse, made my breathing even, relaxed my muscles. As the film went on, I found myself more and more swept up in the events, until I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat gasping at the finale. The way in which Kunuk introduces a small plot element that reveals a character's psychological landscape right before an extremely long shot featuring natural landscapes is a request for you to ruminate on the emotional, spiritual, and social situations of the characters. To get caught up in their lives. To care about what happens to them. To put you on the EDGE of your seat by the end of this extremely slow-paced film. It's masterful. I've never seen anything else like it.

Am I really reading this? An IMDB rating of 6.7! Scribes on this forum seriously awarding this sorry excuse for a motion picture 10/10!

You just can't have it both ways. Start off a movie as a virtual documentary of Inuit practices and then bizarrely try to turn it into a kidnap and chase thriller.

The"acting"(if you could call the collective on - camera awkwardness we see, that) was simply appalling. The dialogue (quite a bit of which wasn't even bothered to be sub - titled) ... dire! Characterisations were non - existent. The filming of the supposed action scenes was hideous. A case in point: the abduction! 6 or 7 minutes of close up silhouettes, murky shadows and muffled voices. And the editing! Somehow the bad guys equipped with a telescope no less, know the outnumbered good guys are coming, lay an ambush, but then are ambushed themselves by the one good guy (his son, sensibly, didn't seem to want a part in it) and we don't really know how it happens. It just does. And then much of the climactic battle is filmed from about 100 meters away from the combatants.

A homage to John Ford and The Searchers? The Coach would be rolling in his grave laughing hysterically.

If revenge is a dish best served cold, then the arctic is an enthralling place for such a story. A trio of irreverent Inuk bullies wreak havoc on the unfortunate souls who happen to cross their path. In the darkness of night, they plunder, kidnap and kill. A father and son, aggrieved by these marauders, pledge vengeance. They ask Kallulik, a bird spirit (the loon), for help in the pursuit.

Authentic to the core, the film audience is treated with real Inuk characters, clothing, tattoos and dog sled teams, actual igloos glowing with the light of interior heating fires, the crack of the dog whip, the eerie arctic quiet and the crunch of raw, frozen fish and bones. Ice beards and misty breaths attest that it is truly cold outside. The sun is extremely close to the horizon even at mid-day. It is a fantastic setting. The eclectic atmosphere is further enhanced by ambient music and Inuk chants. The acting is adequate yet more intriguing for its genuine characters. The second half of the film did not live up to the excitement and promise of the first. The film loosely follows the outline of John Ford's 1956 western, the Searchers. Seen at the Miami International Film Festival.

Maliglutit (Searchers) is inspired by the 1950 John Ford western "The Searchers". In the original, a white woman is kidnapped by members of the Comanche Nation. In this version, the narrative is flipped and all the characters in the film are Inuit. The film is action packed, suspense filled, and beautifully written and directed. It is at many times calming and then suddenly intense, which makes for a riveting viewing experience. This film would be enjoyed by those who love action, suspense, and thrillers and also those who enjoy broadening their film experience across cultures. Anyone who has watched the 1950's version should watch this remake.