Map stars Jason Scott Lee as an Eskimo named Avik who is taken from his people as a boy by an explorer named Walter (Patrick Bergen) because he has tuberculosis. In the hospital where he is sent he meets up with a young half-breed French Canadian girl named Albertine (Anne Parillaud, as the adult version) and they become inseparable friends, usually annoying the strict Catholic headmistress (Jeanne Moreau) with their pranks. In the course of time, Albertine is healed and leaves; eventually Avik is as well and he returns to his own people. But he is no longer wanted, and eventually he re-teams with Walter on a return expedition and signs up for the war. He's assigned to a bomber group and has pretty good luck over Germany. Near the end of his service time, he chances to run into Albertine again, who is working in bomber command, and the two rekindle their friendship, which has turned into something more for Avik, at least.
Map is a slow-moving film that lingers on its subject and the beautiful countryside that surrounds them. Whether it's the fields outside of a Montreal hospital, the English countryside, or the endless white snows of the Arctic, we are continually treated to sumptuous visions of the earth all the better to contrast with the characters, who find themselves confined much of the time, be it in a bomber, a bunker, or an igloo.
The beauty is also starkly counter-balanced by the best scene in the film, a final raid over Dresden that is a testament to the bizarre beauty that can be found in hellish destruction. The bombers seem to move in slow motion as we are treated to the fiery landscape, a city consumed by flame, made all the more vivid when Avik is shot down and must make his way through, almost literally, Hell.
Map is also a sad story, of longing between two people who will never be together, and in that vein it's a very poignant film. But it's lovingly told, and even though it may lack a happy ending, or even a very coherent one (a waking dream sequence merges with reality in a sometimes confusing way at the very end), it's nonetheless a satisfying film for those with a little patience.
Jason Scott Lee has never been better. Though Avik isn't given a wide emotional range, Lee manages to convey the deep feelings that run within him gestures rendered almost in shorthand. And Parillaud, although Albertine is somewhat flighty, also gives a strong performance. Bergen is very good as well, imbuing Walter with an adventurer's sense of wonder that turns darker as the man ages. All three of them play well off one another.
Map isn't for everyone it is long, slow, and a little depressing but it's also a beautiful film and it certainly revels in the gentle unraveling of its subject matter. It's also not a movie you're likely to find many places I had to join Netflix to get it but I find it's worth looking for.
Map is a slow-moving film that lingers on its subject and the beautiful countryside that surrounds them. Whether it's the fields outside of a Montreal hospital, the English countryside, or the endless white snows of the Arctic, we are continually treated to sumptuous visions of the earth all the better to contrast with the characters, who find themselves confined much of the time, be it in a bomber, a bunker, or an igloo.
The beauty is also starkly counter-balanced by the best scene in the film, a final raid over Dresden that is a testament to the bizarre beauty that can be found in hellish destruction. The bombers seem to move in slow motion as we are treated to the fiery landscape, a city consumed by flame, made all the more vivid when Avik is shot down and must make his way through, almost literally, Hell.
Map is also a sad story, of longing between two people who will never be together, and in that vein it's a very poignant film. But it's lovingly told, and even though it may lack a happy ending, or even a very coherent one (a waking dream sequence merges with reality in a sometimes confusing way at the very end), it's nonetheless a satisfying film for those with a little patience.
Jason Scott Lee has never been better. Though Avik isn't given a wide emotional range, Lee manages to convey the deep feelings that run within him gestures rendered almost in shorthand. And Parillaud, although Albertine is somewhat flighty, also gives a strong performance. Bergen is very good as well, imbuing Walter with an adventurer's sense of wonder that turns darker as the man ages. All three of them play well off one another.
Map isn't for everyone it is long, slow, and a little depressing but it's also a beautiful film and it certainly revels in the gentle unraveling of its subject matter. It's also not a movie you're likely to find many places I had to join Netflix to get it but I find it's worth looking for.
