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EDINBURGH REVIEWS<br />
ATANARJUAT, THE FAST RUNNER THE CHATEAU •••<br />
*•**•<br />
Starring Paul Rudd, Sylvie Testud,<br />
Starring Natar Ungalaaq. Directed by Romany Malco and Didier Flamand.<br />
Zacharias Kunuk. Written by Paul Apak Directed by Jesse Peretz- Written by Jesse<br />
Angitirq. Produced by Paul Apak Angilirq, Peretz and Thomas Bidegain. Produced by<br />
Norman Cohn and Zacharias Kunuk. No distributor<br />
set. Drama. Inuktikut-language; subtributor<br />
set. Comedy. Not yet rated.<br />
Robin O'Hara and Scott Macaulay. No distitled.<br />
Not yet rated. Running time: 165 min. Running time: 89 min.<br />
Attempting to find cinematic comparisons<br />
for the remarkable "Atanarjuat, the a former NYU student who cut his teeth<br />
Directed and co-written by Jesse Peretz,<br />
Fast Runner" is—for the most on commercials and pop promos before<br />
part—futile.<br />
Documentary maker Zacharias Kunuk's making his feature debut with 1 998's "First<br />
first feature film has more in common with Love, Last Rites," "The Chateau" is a farcical,<br />
partly autobiographical, and fre-<br />
"Beowulf," "The Odyssey" or Chinua<br />
Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" than anything<br />
ever before seen on the screen. The adventures of an odd couple abroad.<br />
quently hilarious comedy charting the<br />
first ever Inuktikut-language feature, Two adopted Americans, Rex ("The<br />
it is<br />
an extraordinary debut not just for a director<br />
but for an entire culture.<br />
Prime Gig's" Romany Malco) and Graham<br />
(Paul Rudd, in a welcome lead after supporting<br />
turns in "The Cider House Rules"<br />
Like all classics, the tale is a universal<br />
one. It is based on an ancient Inuit legend, and "Reaching Normal"), receive the news<br />
set in the north Baffin region of the that they have inherited a chateau in a<br />
Canadian Arctic, that has been passed on remote region of the south of France.<br />
for generations. Conflict is created in the Traveling together to Europe to assess their<br />
inheritance, they slowly become better<br />
acquainted. Rex is black and lives in<br />
Los Angeles; Graham is white and from<br />
Kansas. The chateau is probably the<br />
only thing they have in common besides<br />
their familial connections. When the<br />
brothers arrive to see it in all its decrepit<br />
glory, they are shocked to find a full<br />
team of servants still living there. The<br />
solution to the scenario seems simple<br />
enough to each of them at first but<br />
when they both fall for the pretty maid<br />
Sabine ("Karnaval's" Sylvie Testud),<br />
The title character literally runs for his life in "Atanarjuat<br />
things start to become less clear.<br />
small community of Igloolik when Shot on DV and set in drizzly climes,<br />
Atanarjuat (Natar Ungalaaq) falls for "The Chateau" is never really much to<br />
Atuat (Sylvia Ivalu), who is already look at and relies primarily on the performances<br />
of the leads for its impact.<br />
promised to Oki (Peter Henry Arnatsiaq).<br />
Jealous at the emotions existing between Thankfully, these are all first-rate—boosted<br />
by Peretz and Bidegain's script and the<br />
the two, Oki plans an attack on<br />
Atanarjuat. His brother is slain but director's promotion of on-set improvisation.<br />
The familiar fish-out-of-water sce-<br />
Atanarjuat manages to escape across the<br />
ice, in an astonishing sequence in which he nario may be a simple one, but to his credit<br />
outruns a team of pursuers stark naked. Peretz succeeds in delivering scene after<br />
He finally takes refuge with a kindly family<br />
of hermits before returning to the comout<br />
ever seeming repetitive. The dialogue is<br />
scene of communication breakdown withmunity<br />
to face Oki.<br />
priceless— particularly the subtitles for<br />
A feature film of epic proportions, Graham's gaffe-laden brand of Franglais<br />
"Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner" succeeds in and Nathan Larson and Patrick Bartosch's<br />
depicting the specific customs, costumes, score keeps things moving along merrily.<br />
—<br />
traditions and beliefs of a particular Inuit Chris Wiegand<br />
community, while at the same time telling<br />
a timeless story of good versus evil.<br />
COOL AND CRAZY ***<br />
It is<br />
thus an exceptionally powerful drama with Starring the Berlevdg Male Choir.<br />
documentary-style detail. The cinematography<br />
is superb, the landscapes austere, the Tom Rcmlov. No distributor set. Documentary.<br />
Directed by Knut Erik Jensen. Produced by<br />
music incredibly moving, the performances<br />
(all of them) of the highest order. rated. Running time: 105 min.<br />
Norwegian-language; subtitled. Not yet<br />
Kunuk directs with a sensuous eye, offering<br />
one of the greatest chase scenes in the music in Knut Frik Jensen's irreverent and<br />
The Arctic comes alive with the sound of<br />
movies one minute and one of the most highly entertaining "Cool and Crazy." A<br />
erotic, realistic sex scenes the next.<br />
"Atanarjuat" will make you laugh, make<br />
you cry and keep you on the edge of your<br />
seat for nearly three hours. Isn't that what<br />
slung<br />
— Chris Wiegand s of<br />
140 (U-I2S) BOXOFFICE<br />
—<br />
—<br />
Finnmarka, a disparate group of 30 men<br />
from three different generations are united<br />
through their passion for singing.<br />
Together, they make up the soon-to-befamous<br />
(or it would be nice to think so)<br />
Berlevag Male Choir—a dedicated and<br />
impeccably dressed outfit who regularly<br />
meet up to belt out a variety of songs in<br />
their home village. The men vary wildly<br />
not only in age but in background, beliefs,<br />
and political and religious persuasions.<br />
Jensen focuses in particular on two elderly<br />
brothers; a straight-talking former<br />
amphetamine addict; and an agnostic<br />
organist. Keeping them all in tune is their<br />
long-haired, wheelchair-bound conductor.<br />
While the director occasionally dips into<br />
their individual private lives, taking his<br />
camera into their homes, he concentrates<br />
primarily on the extraordinary camaraderie<br />
that exists between the members as<br />
they perform together in rehearsal, in concert<br />
and on tour.<br />
Thanks to his obvious admiration for<br />
the self-effacing choir's dedication, not to<br />
mention their considerable talent, Jensen<br />
has created a film that is—like the songs<br />
themselves—amusing, moving, patriotic<br />
and powerful. Certain scenes have a surreal<br />
air, such as when the tuxedoed group<br />
sings their hearts out towards the Barent<br />
Sea, frost forming on their pinched faces.<br />
Like all good documentaries, this is an<br />
enlightening insight into a previously<br />
unexplored world, to which the viewer<br />
feels privileged to have been introduced.<br />
One only hopes that word of the choir will<br />
spread beyond Scandinavia and that we<br />
may see them perform in the flesh in sunnier<br />
vistas. Chris Wiegand<br />
GABRIEL & ME *•<br />
Starring lain Glen. David Bradley, Sean<br />
Landless and Billy Connolly. Directed by<br />
Vdayan Prasad. Written by Lee Hall.<br />
Produced by Marc Samuelson and Peter<br />
Samuclson. No distributor set. Comedyl<br />
Drama. Not yet rated. Running time: 85 min.<br />
Udayan Prasad's disappointing followup<br />
to "My Son the Fanatic" recalls a host<br />
of recent British features such as "There's<br />
Only One Jimmy Grimble" and "Billy<br />
Elliot." A trite and insubstantial feature, it<br />
was shown up at the Edinburgh<br />
International Film Festival by far more<br />
original fare like Andrew Kotting's "This<br />
Filthy Earth" and Asif Kapadia's "The<br />
Warrior."<br />
Like Jimmy Grimble, 11 -year-old<br />
Jimmy Spud (how do they think up these<br />
names?) has the weight of the world on his<br />
shoulders. He has few friends at school<br />
and lives in a cramped housing estate with<br />
his cantankerous father (a miscast lain<br />
Glen) and hardworking mother (Rosie<br />
Rowell). Something of an oddball to say<br />
the least, Jimmj jusl isn't like the other<br />
kids he knows. I his is mainly because his<br />
interests are more celestial than sportv. He<br />
doesn't want to be a footballer; he dreams<br />
of becoming an angel instead. So when the
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