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 THE
FAST RUNNER (Lot
47) aka Atanarjuat. DVD. Lot 47 Films. Drama. Approx 2.5 hours. Rated R.
Inuktitut language with English subtitles. A small Arctic community of
people living in tents and igloos is cursed by an unknown shaman that
plagues the tribe with evil for years. Atanarjuat is madly in love with
Atuat, and vice versa, but standing in their way to happiness is Oki, the
tribe leader’s son whom Atuat has already been promised to in a
prearranged marriage. Tired of the constant threats and bickering over
Atuat, the tribe leader orders the men to partake in a ritualistic fight
with the winner being awarded the prized woman. As if the conflict over
Atuat wasn’t enough fuel for the fire, Oki’s sister Puja decides to
throw her whoring self into the mix causing an explosion that angers and
saddens everyone in the tribe. The result of the fight and Puja’s
behavior sets off a string of events that lead to murder, revenge, and
Atanarjuat running naked for his life across the Arctic ice.
Based on an ancient Inuit legend, The Fast Runner tells a tale of
how damaging it can be to put one’s personal desire above the needs of
one’s tribe. I’ll tell you, for a movie that started off a tad slowly;
The Fast Runner really pulled me in and had me totally engrossed. As I
watched this movie, I found myself intrigued at the character’s
lifestyle, but as time passed, the intrigue turned into captivity as the
story released its tension and gripped its clutches around my throat. The
Arctic lifestyle and survival plotline is nicely agitated with the tension
between Atanarjuat and Oki, while the entire Puja fiasco just seems to
make things run deeper between many characters. All of the characters are
well developed, but it was hard at times to judge the acting due to my
ignorance of the Inuktitut language (I knew I would regret taking woodshop
over Inuktitut in high school) and how it is properly communicated.
However, I found everything extremely believable and could see the
intentions of the character’s true emotions. Puja (Lucy Tulugarjuk) is
the cutest female here, but because of her sucky personality, I also hated
her the most. The eating of animals will definitely gross out overly
sensitive PETA types and vegetarians, but hey, it’s not like these
people can grow a garden of veggies in the snow (snow peas maybe?)!
The only beef I have with this movie is the subtitles are sometimes
tough to read during bright scenes. The DVD picture is beautiful and the
sound is crystal. On an interesting note, The Fast Runner was filmed on
location in Igloolik (community of 1,200 people located on a small island
in the north Baffin region of the Canadian Arctic) and is the first-ever
film in the Inuktitut language. Great job by producer/director Zacharia
Kunuk, a ground-breaker in Inuit filmmaking. Although I highly recommend
this movie based on its story, how could you not want to be witness to the
first ever Inuktitut language film? – Denis Sheehan
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