Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)

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.

Director:

Zacharias Kunuk

Writers:

Paul Apak Angilirq, Norman Cohn (additional writer)

Stars:

Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq

26 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Centuries ago, in what would become the Canadian Arctic, Atuat is promised to the malevolent Oki, son of the leader of their tribe. But Atuat loves the good-natured Atanarjuat, who ultimately finds a way to marry her. Oki's sister, Puja also fancies Atanarjuat, and when she causes strife between him and his brother Amaqjuaq, Oki seizes the opportunity to wreak a terrible revenge on Atanarjuat.

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Plot Keywords:

inuit | arctic | legend | canadian | shaman | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Companion website

Country:

Canada

Language:

Inuktitut

Release Date:

26 July 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat)

Filming Locations:

Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD1,960,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,789,952

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,204,281

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Canada Television and Cable Production Fund License Program (CTCPF), Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

172 min 174 min 172 min 161 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Inuktitut-language feature film.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Atuat: [to Atanarjuat] I hunt you. You're my own wolf.

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Crazy Credits

The film's end credits play next to behind the scenes footage of the making of the film. Many primary cast and crew members appear at the same time that their credits come on screen.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies by Canadian Directors (2016)

User Reviews

A remarkable film that dramatizes an Inuit legend with Inuit actors, in Inuktitut with English subtitles.

Perhaps the word that best describes this film is 'remarkable'. It is remarkable that it was made at all, by an Inuit film company, remarkable that it was shot on location in the High Arctic in conditions of winter and summer, remarkable for its absolute authenticity, for its faithfulness both to its subject and to the Inuit culture, which transcends remarkable.

I have been to the High Artic more than once. I have sat in the great silence of the north on the late summer tundra when it turns purple and the winds begin to blow across the ground and make the cotton grass sing. I have heard the snow squeak at thirty-five below zero, as it did in this film; filming in such conditions must have been a nightmare. Metal does strange things at those temperatures; cameras freeze and film becomes brittle and breaks into pieces. Actors get cold and those just standing around get colder. There are no local power sources. And everything must be flown in by transport plane, including everything needed for the film crew to live and eat. There are no hotels and no restaurants, no pub of an evening and the daylight hours for filiming in February or March are very short. And in the summer, there are the flies.

The use of Inuktitut, which is still a living language, preserves that essential atmosphere of complete authenticity; the building of igloos, the darkness inside the communal dwelling with only seal oil lamps, the use of bone and driftwood and dried seaweed for tools and fuel are absolutely authentic. And yet not once did I have the impression of watching a documentary. These were real people, living real lives, using real tools, wearing real clothing, relying on the hunt, on luck and on each other for survival.

The story is set a thousand years ago. It is a legend, but one easily sees that it was a real story, passed down through time in the oral tradition. As it plays itself out - in the slow pace of Inuit time, not the frantic, high-pressure pace of our everyday existence - the rules of survival become clear, family alliances, taboos, social practices. Where survival in a lethal environment is moment to moment, social rules broken have immediate consequences not only for individuals but for the whole community, which usually consisted of no more than a dozen or so related individuals. Jealousy, murder, theft could not be tolerated. The story must not, therefore, be judged by our standards. The only way to see this film is with complete openness; not only must you let the characters tell you the events of their drama, you must let them show you why those events were so destructive and why their way of dealing with it was right for them.

This is about survival in a way that someone living in a city with a supermarket down the street, medical care and central heating can probably never fully grasp. It is not for the small-minded, not for anyone who cannot see past his own prejudices or narrow moral concepts and it is not for the squeamish. Survival is messy; it involves animal guts and blood and pain, it involves you in your own continued existence in a way that we can no longer experience in all our plenty and our ease. This film is also about fierce love, blinding jealousy, hatred, courage and abiding patience - all things we share in our common humanity. But the filmmakers did not present the characters as 'noble savages'. Life was about food, about having it or not having it, about hunting it, gathering it, bringing it home, preparing it, preserving it, eating it and then doing it all over again. All the time. The Inuit are in no way 'primitive' people, whatever that truly means; this is how they survived. We couldn't do it - and perhaps that makes us the primitives.

I was fascinated. It takes a short while to become used to the unfamiliar, the setting, the names, the culture shock. After that, it is compelling, and very, very real. The events unfold tragically and inevitably in a distressingly familiar, a frighteningly human way. And you care deeply about the characters, about what happens to them, about whether they win out - because it is made very clear that they have every chance of not surviving for any number of reasons.

And it is gorgeous. The Artic is immensely photogenic but the cinematography was up to the challenge. The sounds are a whole new experience for those who have never been there - the wind, the squeak and crunch of the snow, the dogs, the singing, the drumming, the rattling of bones, the sounds of the ice.

This film is an experience; if the Arctic has ever intrigued you, this must not be missed.