The movie is wonderful and it managed to withstand time since it was made in 1956. The movie didn't only catch the harsh, cold and merciless nature of Greenland but also the wonderful side of it, if you haven't been in Greenland it's hard to understand what is so wonderful about it or when you don't know how the way the inhabitants are/were.
The way the Greenlanders are portrayed couldn't be more correct, for example before the time Greenlanders stopped being hunters and began to work instead, everybody didn't see any future in fishing and it's true in the old days when hunters were humiliated they became "Qivittoq" (correct Greenlandic spelling of "Qivitoq"). Roughly translated to English it would mean "mountain wanderer". Also the feeling of knowing everyone and having the kind of closeness that is present in the small villages in the movie couldn't have been more precise, it was like entering my hometown just smaller and more (lot more actually) primitive.
It must have been a nightmare shooting the film on the icecap since it's quite dangerous and I can't praise the people enough who made this movie, and even risk limb and life to make this movie. You also get to see a small lonely figure of a kayak between the mighty icebergs, and it must have been quite frightening since like many people say that ice is treacherous.
This movie is an unseen and overlooked masterpiece that was made and forgotten in time. I'm so happy I bought it on DVD since I wanted to see it since quite a long time ago. I also gotta say that this movie is relevant now as it was then since it carries some part of Greenland's history. For example when Denmark began to "modernize" Greenland and make it more "danish". Well they succeeded in modernizing Greenland but they did not succeed in making greenlanders "danish". The movie was mainly made because Denmark wanted to show they are good colonists by "raising" their "children". The danish being the parents and the greenlanders being the children.
Now you get it, this movie carries a small amount of Greenland's history and one of the biggest influences on Greenaland.
10/10
The way the Greenlanders are portrayed couldn't be more correct, for example before the time Greenlanders stopped being hunters and began to work instead, everybody didn't see any future in fishing and it's true in the old days when hunters were humiliated they became "Qivittoq" (correct Greenlandic spelling of "Qivitoq"). Roughly translated to English it would mean "mountain wanderer". Also the feeling of knowing everyone and having the kind of closeness that is present in the small villages in the movie couldn't have been more precise, it was like entering my hometown just smaller and more (lot more actually) primitive.
It must have been a nightmare shooting the film on the icecap since it's quite dangerous and I can't praise the people enough who made this movie, and even risk limb and life to make this movie. You also get to see a small lonely figure of a kayak between the mighty icebergs, and it must have been quite frightening since like many people say that ice is treacherous.
This movie is an unseen and overlooked masterpiece that was made and forgotten in time. I'm so happy I bought it on DVD since I wanted to see it since quite a long time ago. I also gotta say that this movie is relevant now as it was then since it carries some part of Greenland's history. For example when Denmark began to "modernize" Greenland and make it more "danish". Well they succeeded in modernizing Greenland but they did not succeed in making greenlanders "danish". The movie was mainly made because Denmark wanted to show they are good colonists by "raising" their "children". The danish being the parents and the greenlanders being the children.
Now you get it, this movie carries a small amount of Greenland's history and one of the biggest influences on Greenaland.
10/10