B128-DES79
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner,
PC’s Latest Atrocity!
Copyright © by Dan Schneider, 1/24/04
The other day I watched the DVD of Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner I
had picked up used at Blockbuster for less than $7. I wasted my money. I
bought in to the hype surrounding this very bad 2001 film. Virtually every
review on www.metacritic.com & www.rottentomatoes.com,
the 2 largest film review sites on the web, is fall-down, asskissingly
praise-filled for this film. Seeing the trailer, it seemed promising, & I
had put the film on my list of must gets when it came out on DVD.
But, the film is so bad on so many scores I can only surmise that a PC
need to be kind to the culture of Eskimos is behind the lavishment of praise. This
Canadian film won all its country’s honors? Let’s not forget that Canada
does not call its aboriginal peoples American (Canadian) Indians or Native
Americans (Canadians), rather the PC numbingly (& ultimately meaningless)
First Nations; although the increasing evidence that these ‘First Nations’
actually conquered & slaughtered the actual 1st Americans
(represented by Kennewick Man & similar archaeological findings) will
doubtlessly lead to an even more meaningless appellation in a
decade or 2. Accordingly, the Eskimo culture has been re-termed Inuit, after 1
of several languages spoken in the Canadian Arctic- a bit of Inuit cultural
imperialism, eh? I don’t play those games- I’ll call an Eskimo an
Eskimo- a term derived from yet another Native lingo. Do I call myself a gringo
because Mexicans do? Do I say I live in the EU (Estados Unidos) because a
Spaniard would associate that acronym with the USA, rather than the European
Union? Did we call the USSR the CCCP? Of course not- to hell with semantics!
My dashing of PC Elitism, however, is much in accord with director Zacharias
Kunuk’s dashing of competent filmmaking. Gushing reviews praise the film’s
look. Sorry, but the ‘film’ is actually shot in widescreen digital
video, which makes the Arctic glare all the harsher. Film would have softened
the tones & given the frozen wastes an Antonionian desolation. Still, the
camerawork is so amateurish I was agog. Even a layman like me understands visual
composition- ZK does not! Instead of a cinema verité feel (watch the DVD of Narc
for a brilliant example of how that’s done right!) 1 feels that a bunch of
teenagers in Cancun could have done a better job in recording their sex romps
& quarrels. The handheld visuals of the Arctic are also rather dull. I
recently bought a 10-DVD cheapie box of films for $8. In it was an odd little
early 1970s British film called Cry Of The Penguins, with John Hurt &
Hayley Mills. It was shot in the Antarctic & its visuals are infinitely
better. Atanarjuat is 2 hours, 40+ minutes long for a tale that, done by
someone with a grasp of narrative, could have been told in a 25 minute short-
it’s that ungodly bloated.
The writing is atrocious- supposedly based on an eons-old myth;
this is PC shorthand to inform the gullible that this is a deep & treasured
tale to these people & if you diss it you’re obviously a racist
imperialist fool. Sorry, purveyors of pap, I’m not kowed! The tale is a
simpleminded morality play: the characters are dumb, superstitious barbarians,
& had this film’s director had a non-Inuit name attached to it the film
would have been relentlessly attacked for its racist portrayal, not to mention
flayed by Feminists for its degrading portrait of the female Eskimos. Let’s
see: polygamy is OK, yet adulterers deserve the death penalty, while the woman
they fuck around with deserve banishment from the village by their family, &
women are meant to merely cook, sew, take care of the babies, obey their
husbands, etc.- you get the point. But, wait, since this ‘represents’ a
‘unique’ aboriginal culture any forward thinking individual has no right to
judge it for what it is- or was: a barbaric, lawless, misogynistic,
testosterone-driven culture of neoliths. Holy shit, am I channeling Gloria
Steinem? Relax, read on- I bash all around.
So, you say C’mon, it’s an indie film made by Eskimos to celebrate
their own- they had hardships. Well, even that does not wash- the film’s
budget was about $2 million! I’ve never made a film, but give me $2
million & I guarantee you I can top this film in every way, artistically-
starting with the atrocious script, & wooden actors. Sorry, don’t give me
this ‘limited pool’ of Eskimo actors to choose from BS, nor the non-need to
shoot the film in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. Go to many of the reservations
around North America, get the best Indian actors, give’em parkas, talk in
English, & I guarantee no 1 will notice the difference. How many multiplexes
are there in Yellowknife, anyway?
As for the story. This from the film’s official website http://www.atanarjuat.com/:
Igloolik, "place of houses," in the eastern arctic wilderness
at the dawn of the first millenium.
Evil in the form of a mysterious, unknown shaman enters a small community
of nomadic Inuit and upsets its balance and spirit of cooperation. The stranger
leaves behind a lingering curse of bitterness and discord: after the camp leader
Kumaglak is murdered, the new leader Sauri drives his old rival Tulimaq down
through mistreatment and ridicule.
Years pass.
Power begins to change when the resentful Tulimaq has two sons - Amaqjuaq,
the Strong One, and Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner. As the camp's best hunters they
provoke jealousy and rage in their rival, Oki, the leader's ill-tempered son.
When Atanarjuat wins away Oki's promised wife-to-be, the beautiful Atuat,
in a head punching competition, Oki vows to get even.
Egged on by his intimidating father, Oki and his friends plot to murder
both brothers while they sleep. Amaqjuaq is speared through their tent and
killed, but Atanarjuat miraculously escapes, running naked for his life across
the spring sea ice.
Eluding his pursuers with supernatural help, Atanarjuat is hidden and
nursed back to health by an old couple who themselves fled the evil camp years
before.
After an inner struggle to reclaim his spiritual path, and with the
guidance of his elder advisor, Atanarjuat learns to face both natural and
supernatural enemies, and heads home to rescue his family. Will he continue the
bloody cycle of revenge, or restore harmony to the community?
Here’s a real summary of Paul
Apak Angilirq’s script. The 1st 90 minutes, detailing the
Shaman’s arrival, the 2 brothers’ growing up, rivalry with each other &
Oki (Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq) & his pals,
could all have used a Lord Of The Rings-type 3 or 4 minute condensation
to start. Especially superfluous (& odious) is a scene where Atanarjuat (Natar
Ungalaaq) stiffs Oki’s snow slut of a sister- Puja (Lucy Tulugarjuk)- which seemingly means they are married, according to Eskimo
law. This is truly pointless soft-core Eski-porno. The film should
start at the murder of Amaqjuaq
(Pakkak Innukshuk), right after he fucks Puja &
seeks Atanarjuat’s forgiveness, & where Atanarjuat escapes Oki & 2 of
his murderous homeys, dashes naked across the ice fields, only to be saved by
Oki’s long lost grand-uncle’s family. In truth, even an Eskimo would be dead
of hypothermia in less than an hour of Arctic nudity- but this is art, & 1
of the film’s lesser sins. Oki has always had it in for Atanarjuat but
mistakenly kills Amaqjuaq, after Puja tells him Atanarjuat tried to kill her
after the adultery. Perhaps the only chuckle in the film comes from where
Atanarjuat is hidden in the seaweed bed-cum-outhouse of Oki’s grand-uncle,
only to be pissed upon by the searching Oki. His feet bloodied from his escape,
he survives, has ‘visions’- i.e.- loses his mind, & returns for a final
showdown with Oki- who, in the meanwhile, had engaged in a gang rape (mercifully
offscreen) of Atanarjuat’s 1st wife Atuat (Sylvia Ivalu)-
his ex-fiancee. No, there is no Shootout at the
Oki Corral, nor anything of any involving drama. In another gratuitous scene
designed to highlight Eski T&A, Atanarjuat returns to camp, strips
Atuat (A Twat?- more plays to Eskitosterone?) in public, & gives her
a bitchin’ new parka. He then plots to take out Oki, who has seemingly lost
his mind after murdering his own dad to ascend to tribal chiefdom & then
killing a weird rabbit- a bizarrely failed attempt at symbolism. Atanarjuat gets
his vengeance, but spares Oki & his boys. The trio, + the Skankskimo
Puja, are then banished for their murderous & adulterous ways. This only
after the wacky old Shaman is summoned & defeated.
Boy, ain’t it great to know Eskimo culture is so uplifting & worthy
of preservation? Furthermore, no 1, including ZK, seems to know when this tale
is set. Some critics claim 100s or 1000s of years ago, but clearly it takes
place after Euro ‘contamination’, since the Eskimos have steel blades &
no pre-Euro knowledge of metallurgy. But this is ‘myth’ so even I can
overlook this & many other historical flaws. The dull tale, poor acting,
amateur visuals, however, I cannot. & ZK is not an amateur filmmaker- having
spent a quarter century in documentary filmmaking. This film is nowhere in a
class with that other noted doc maker-turned-auteur Herk Harvey, & his
brilliant 1962 Carnival Of Souls. The character development is so poor I
had to rewatch certain scenes to be sure of the character’s relationships- for
example, on a 1st watch it’s nearly impossible to discern that
Atanarjuat & Puja are married after their soft core romp. Similarly,
Puja’s hand in the murder of Amaqjuaq is only discernible upon rewatch.
Still, the characters are utterly clueless of any depth to life beyond
fucking & superstition, the director has no sense of narrative nor editing
skills, nor any ability to transcend stereotypes (just compare this dreck to the
delightful Native American comedy of a few years back- Smoke Signals-
with a strong script & well-developed characters by Sherman Alexie), the
visuals are poorly constructed & dull, & the score is predictably laced
with mind-numbingly obvious chants & gutturals.
While not the worst film I’ve ever seen, given its indie-artsy buildup
(generally more credible than flat-out Hollywood Oscar buzz), I have to term Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner the most disappointing film in a very long time. About
the only positive thing about Eskimo culture that can be discerned from this
film is that they will not have to be subjected to it- at least not for a few
more centuries!
[An expurgated version of this article originally appeared on the 1/04 Hackwriters website.]
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