u/dorgoth12

There's an awful lot wrong with it, the camera having 6 pixels, the acting being a bit amateur, the inconsistent tone, the glacial pace..... but..... wow. What a true epic.

It took until 2001 for Zacharias Kunuk explode onto the scene with his uniquely Inuit perspective, giving us the first ever feature film to be entirely in Inuktitut. Filmed with a totally Inuit cast and 90% Inuit behind the camera, and shot on location in Iglooik, Nunavut, Atarnarjuat didn't hold anything back when breaking this new ground in cinema. An almost 3 hour epic retelling of the oral myths of the region, at its core it tells us that for a people to survive we need to do two things. We need to forgive, but we cannot forget. Once evil takes hold among a people, it sets root. From there it will spread and destroy. You must have the courage to recognise the evil in your community and banish it, but never succumb to that same evil in doing so. 

Atanarjuat is such a deeply Inuit film that it gets listed as a documentary oftentimes, such is the accuracy and attention to detail of everything from the costumes to the religous practices. (Fun fact, that's how they got the funding, by saying it would serve as a piece of cultural archiving in addition to being a fictional movie) ((Not fun fact, that's because Canada didn't see Indigenous cultures as anything worthwhile outside of a museum exhibit))

Although the camera quality is equivalent to that of a Motorola Razr, the visuals are still breathtaking. The natural environment is used to full effect, with 99% of the scenes giving us landscapes that would be the highlight of any modern day blockbuster. I'd argue that the blurry, pixelated nature helps with the portrayal that this is an ancient myth being retold after generations of oral storytelling.

I mentioned the acting. While Kunuk would go on to use many of this cast for his huge catalogue of Inuit movies to come, Atarnarjuat was a debut was almost everyone, and that shakiness is clear. There's definitely a rawness and realism as a result, but there's a few times when a more polished actor was needed. 

But despite everything, this is a transportative experience. It flings you into a place in time and space that I promise you, you've never experienced before. And once you're there, it lingers, it soothes, it screams, it shares. And you'll come out of it having enriched your worldview. If that ain't what this whole crappy medium is about, then nothing is.