Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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invitation to her wedding, he seizes the opportunity to whisk Albertine off into the
skies”. 871 Albertine’s song on the soundtrack, referring to the lovers being reunited in
heaven, also relates to both possibilities. The last sequence of the film - which lends
itself to multiple readings - returns full circle to the opening sequence of Avik as a child
being thrown up into the air, and leaves him “literally in suspension, unfulfilled as
orphan, halfbreed, Eskimo, adult, lover, war veteran, or mapmaker”. 872
Strick’s overall assessment of the film was typical of the response of American and
European critics who gave Ward credit for having attempted something on an epic scale
even if it was not entirely successful: “Like Ward’s other works, the film is an evocative
visual epic open to many interpretations. His sequences are magnificently framed and
seldom predictable”. 873 American critic, Michael Wilmington’s evaluation of the film
is similar: “Map of the Human Heart had to be a masterpiece to succeed. And since it
isn’t – since the portrait of the star-crossed, mixed race Inuit lovers in a decadesspanning
doomed romance obviously falls short of its own grand intentions – there may
be too quick an impulse to dismiss it, to ignore the (considerable) shards and chunks of
grandeur that remain”. 874 Another review in Sight and Sound described the film as:
“An astonishingly ambitious and frequently breathtaking work” which “plays on a mapmaking
allegory – for Walter a map is a battle plan, a guide to conquest and seduction;
for Avik it represents the Westernisation of himself and his land”. (This is a dichotomy
that New Zealanders can understand well. There has been much debate in this country
in recent years about cartography as an agent of colonisation.) The reviewer recognized
that the narrative structure presented problems but praised the film for its intentions:
“Although Ward struggled through numerous re-edits to arrive at a final cut, this still
resembles an unfinished work in progress […]. A wonderful work of art”. 875 Map of
the Human Heart thus developed the same kind of reputation as Ward’s earlier features
– a flawed masterpiece.
Critical response to the film in Australia and to some extent New Zealand, was more
negative – a response Nowra believes was one of the catalysts for Ward later making his
home in United States. As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, critics tended to
871 Philip Strick, "Map of the Human Heart," Sight and Sound 3.6 (1993): 58-59.
872 Strick, "Map of the Human Heart," 59.
873 Strick, "Map of the Human Heart," 59.
874 Michael Wilmington, "Firestorm and Dry Ice," Film Comment 29.3 (1993): 51.
875 Mark Kermode, "January Video Choice," Sight and Sound 4.1 (1994): 58.