Atanarjuat (2001)

Director:

Zacharias Kunuk

Writers:

Paul Apak Angilirq (writer)
Norman Cohn (additional writer)

Release Date:

1 February 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

The telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.

Plot Keywords:

Inuit | Arctic | Evil Spirit | Shaman | Revenge

Awards:

20 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Natar Ungalaaq	...	Atanarjuat
Sylvia Ivalu	...	Atuat
Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq	...	Oki
Lucy Tulugarjuk	...	Puja
Madeline Ivalu	...	Panikpak
Pauloosie Qulitalik	...	Qulitalik / A shaman (as Paul Qulitalik)
Eugene Ipkarnak	...	Sauri, the chief
Pakak Innuksuk	...	Amaqjuaq (as Pakkak Innushuk)
Neeve Irngaut	...	Uluriaq
Abraham Ulayuruluk	...	Tungajuaq
Apayata Kotierk	...	Kumaglak
Mary Qulitalik	...	Niriuniq
Luke Taqqaugaq	...	Pittiulak
Alex Uttak	...	Pakak
Eric Nutarariaq	...	Young Sauri

Also Known As:

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Australia) (Canada: English title)
Atanarjuat - La légende de l'homme rapide (Canada: French title)
The Fast Runner
The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity and violence.

Runtime:

172 min | Argentina:174 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Australia:168 min | Finland:172 min (Helsinki International Film Festival) | UK:168 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

Inuktitut

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:10 | Japan:PG-12 | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada

Company:

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

Trivia:

While this film would never get SPCA approval, every animal killed was used in true Inuit fashion; all the meat was consumed, and the skins were put to practical use.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Just before Atanarjuat jumps over the crevasse, the shadow of a crew member appears in the snow, at the bottom of the screen, to the left.

Quotes:

Atuat: [to Atanarjuat] I hunt you. Your my own wolf.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) (V)

A different language

The biggest surprise about the for Inuit-produced feature is that you do not need to be politically correct to like it. It is, besides a few excusable flaws, just a great film. It is extremely difficult to transfer stories from foreign cultures and oral traditions to the screen - the whole visual language of the media is loaded with subtle assumptions on how stories hold together and characters should act; and these assumptions mostly belong to "Western"-modern culture. I think this films great achievement is to avoid much of it. One example: It's not just due to the villainous character of some persons that they behave badly - the conflicts are not just conflicts between individuals. It's rather the entire community that is ill, due to spirit possession.

The film is told in a somewhat different visual language, and this is what makes it so convincing; this is also what makes it difficult to understand at times (particularly in the beginning), but this is the price to pay - it is rather surprising how comprehensible it gets later. The film as a whole is really exciting and touching. It's pace is slow (and I like slow-paced movies). It's solutions for particular scenes are striking - the appearance of the bad spirit in the end is eerie, and the effect is just done by the camera position. On the other hand, there is a sort a documentary immediacy to everything, as if the camera just happened to be in the right spot when the story unfolded (I liked the burping and spitting a lot).

There are, of course, points that don't work out well: The music is the usual One-World-Tribal-kitsch-mud, with didgeridoos and Tuvan throat-singing, as if every "primitive" culture was just the same (an idea originating from 18th century Europe and strangely enough professed by many "tribal" activists today). But, well, it's pretty discrete...