Le jour avant le lendemain (2008)

Two isolated families meet for a summertime celebration. Food is abundant and the future seems bright, but Ningiuq, a wise old woman, sees her world as fragile and moves through it with a ... See full summary »

Directors:

Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu

Writers:

Susan Avingaq, Marie-Hélène Cousineau,

Stars:

Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Madeline Ivalu, Paul-Dylan Ivalu

3 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq	...	Apak
Madeline Ivalu	...	Ninioq
Paul-Dylan Ivalu	...	Maniq
Mary Qulitalik	...	Kuutujuk
Tumasie Sivuarapik	...	Kukik

Storyline

Two isolated families meet for a summertime celebration. Food is abundant and the future seems bright, but Ningiuq, a wise old woman, sees her world as fragile and moves through it with a pervasive sense of dread. Ningiuq and her grandson Maniq are dropped off on a remote island, where, every year, the family dries the catch and stores it for winter. The task is soon finished. As summer turns to fall, they wait in vain for the others to pick them up.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

Canada

Language:

North American Indian Inuktitut

Release Date:

2 December 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Before Tomorrow

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 93 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

You can feel creators' affection with the topic, but the result didn't turn out great as a film IMO

There is a lot of natural charm in any Inuit film, like Atanarjuat ("Fast Runner") or this one. Seeing people dealing mainly with simple survival tasks gives a strong "no-bull@#$%" sense, and gets you to believe what's happening on the screen much more than you would with any other film. It all looks authentic and true.

Add to this some great Arctic scenery, and you can easily have a winner. But still...

The storyline is a bit choppy, with things just taking too long or too short to happen. Many scenes are enormously long relative to what's happening. Camera work seems to favor close-ups too much (or maybe that's me - I was sitting way too close). The ending left me completely confused as to what the authors were trying to say here.

On the positive side, I'm happy the creators didn't get carried away with too much action (hunting etc), with some more complex things left out of the frame. It didn't harm the movie at all, contrary to what people may think after seeing too much Hollywood movies.

Even though I gave this one four stars, I will go see another film from the same creators if and when it comes out.