Good movie but grossly overrated

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Having a movie with very little dialogue is a risky proposition. In my opinion, it almost never works. "Far North" is a case in point. This could have been a devastating and disturbing tragedy, but the way it's presented, it's boring and tedious.A woman named Saiva (Michelle Yeoh) lives with her daughter, Anja (Michelle Krusiec) outside of human contact. Because of past experiences, Saiva avoids other people like the plague. Then an outsider, Loki (Sean Bean) comes into their midst, which changes the status quo.The acting is not the problem, nor is the cinematography (which is stunning). Yeoh and Bean are well-known faces (both have been in Bond movies) and are capable actors. But there is little they can do with such limited material. Michelle Krusiec may not be as well known as her co-stars, but she matches them.The problem with the film is that with almost no dialogue, it's too simple, and with the resulting minimal character development, it quickly becomes a sleep-inducer.I will say that the ending is a great twist, but not even that can make up for the 80 minutes of tedium that come before it.

Somewhat under-looked British director Asif Kapadia's 2007 film, Far North, opens with a rather exquisite tracking shot which sweeps across a very large, very open ice glacier that is shown to be split in several areas and thus, beginning to fall apart. The manner in which Kapadia's film opens echoes the manner in which it closes, with a similar tracking shot over what appears to be the same spread of ice – both sequences are representative of both the society within the film, as well as the mother-daughter bond two people of that ilk share and experience throughout. Cracks are initially there, as if something is melting or falling apart; and are apparent in the opening shot, while the condition of the glacier at the very end is representative of just how far things have come between the two people and the world around them as we witness those respective horrors and see the condition of the ice at the end.Unfolding in a large and ice cold location, which is wide enough to encompass Russian soldiers; people whose names sound Nordic as well as characters whom might well be of either Kazakh or Tajik descent, although shot in Norway, the film covers the trials and experiences of a middle aged woman named Saiva (Yeoh) and her adopted younger daughter named Anja (Krusiec). Saiva and Anja's basic, but brutal, way of life is thrust into our faces by way of some shock tactics of animalistic levels, in which an animal itself is on the wrong end of some harm. This rather shocking sequence of raw predicament and must-do human survival consequently sets the overall tone of the film; that raw look at how human beings act and react when push turns to shove and emotions, sensations and predicaments must be confronted. Throughout, murder and savagery is the order of the day and desperate scenarios are used as the basis for the human mind to act as the subject of the study.The film is narrated to us by Saiva, whose opening speech tells us of how a village elder of some description once told her many years ago that she would bring death and wrong-doing to whomever she cared for, or just generally loved. Looking up the daughter's name, Anja, on Wikipedia sees you directed to 'Anya'; which I read translates out of Russian and into English as 'bringing goodness', thus interestingly contradicting Saiva's supposed curse. The two seem to have gotten along rather well for all these years, what could possibly go wrong? Saiva and Anja travel around quite a bit, in fact they travel a lot. Despite being located within the large, open and daunting snowy wilderness in which they're based; it cannot hide them from the dangers that lurk within. The reason for their constant moving around is due to a large group of Russian soldiers who, for unspecified reasons, are hopping from town-to-town; village-to-village; settlement-to-settlement, murdering the inhabitants; raping the women and pillaging any of the goods. Indeed, there is an altercation later on in which the threat of skinning a baby alive is issued by those nasty Russkies - crikey. The extent as to exactly what's going on is never fully explained, which is a route Kapadia wisely decides to go down so as to not veer too far away from what the film is essentially about: this rural set drama with essence of romance; horrifically looking at the results of conflict within a close-knit bond. What it isn't, is a war film exploring the extent of a conflict and consequent would-be escape of two innocents.The conflict within arises when a certain Loki stumbles into their world. Loki, played by Sean Bean in a role that somewhat goes against his usual on-screen type, is found by one of the women when out on a hunting expedition. He is a solider, only he is not of the Russian variety, and seems to be in just as much danger as the women are in relation to them. Loki's introduction to the text, and his existence in the text, creates direct opposition to the established norms and ways of life the women go by. His entering the fray is a mixture of west meeting east; of male meeting female and of the modern world meeting the ancient. These ideas are expressed in his ability to introduce modernity to the two in the form of a transistor radio which clearly excites Anya, as well as the mending of a motor on the back the women's boat which they'd previously only got about in by way of rowing. The instance in which the motor starts running sees Saiva realise this, and has her cautiously approach the rear in an attempt to try and make sense of it all; since it is this new, unfamiliar and outside force now driving them.Like the director's 2001 effort The Warrior, the film is beautiful but brutal in equal measure. It unfolds a stark, harsh narrative amidst the backdrop of a stunning locale in which unflinching content and the dire realities of life under these conditions, particularly in regards to garnering food by way of killing animals, is given as much focus as the characters themselves. The film's opinion of sex as an item, or event, that destroys and tears apart is reinforced when two people move closer by way of making-love, although it destroys someone else's link to both of them and also when a hideous realisation is made during an additional sex scene. While unfortunately denied of a universally wider release, and consequently more exposure, Far North is a frightening film that taps into the human mind and exposes its raw state of existence, and how ugly it can turn, by way of sin.

Life in the barren north, is cruel and harsh, and so are the people that eek out an existence in this frozen hell-hole. Upon looking at the cover with MIchelle YEOH (luv-her) and Sean BEAN, and a young Asian actress named Michelle, I couldn't wait for the sex scene with the three of them. Bodies wrapped as one trying to fight off the cold. Well what does everybody want but no-one likes. Getting exactly what you want. I got it alright and wished i never saw it. Anyhoo the movie starts off with the lead character killing one of her sled dogs to make a hearty beefy stew. You then see the harsh existence and life out there. they pass a work camp. Finally an escapee from the work camp or deserter arrives. He brings with him the marvels of the modern world and jealously as the two pine for his affection. In the end your left speechless and no anyone who lives up there has to be crazy.

I really didn't understand the purpose of making this film. I think of myself as a pretty good film critic and most films I like the masses enjoy as well. This film was slow and quiet and I guess the climax was the shock value at the end. Shocking yes, but valued no. I was dissapionted and felt cheated, because there was no valid reason for her to kill someone she saved from death and raised like her own child. If she was a psycho path and the director gave us glempses of that then maybe it would have made sense. I mean, things should make some sense and what she did made none. I'm not one who needs movies wrapped up in a cute bow at the end so I leave happy, but cmon maaaan, this was disturbingly stupid and anyone who enjoyed this film must like contrived controversy. Well, to each his own, but this one could have stayed on the shelf.