"Winner of the Caméra d'Or last year at
Cannes and a burgeoning international sensation, Zacharias Kunuk's first
feature - as well as the first feature to be made in the Inuktitut language- is
an epic account of an Inuit blood feud, shot on DV in northernmost Canada.
Mysterious, bawdy, emotionally intense, and replete with
virtuoso throat singing, this three-hour movie is engrossing from first image
to last, so devoid of stereotype and cosmic in its vision it could suggest the
rebirth of cinema. As the arctic light and landscape beggar
description, so the performances go beyond acting, and the production itself
seems little short of miraculous." -
Jim Hoberman, Village Voice
"[Atanarjuat The Fast
Runner] is a knockout ..a generational saga with many Homeric
elements love, jealousy, rivalry between young contenders, extraordinary
feats of strength, resentments passed from fathers to sons, and crimes that
beget consequences years later." - Margaret Atwood, The Globe and Mail
"Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) is
an astonishing epic film made by and about the
Inuit peoples of the Canadian arctic, telling a story of a crime that ruptures
the trust within a closely knit group, and how justice is achieved and healing
begins.…" -
Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times
"J'ai suivi de très près l'extraordinaire aventure de ce
premier film inuit qui a été primé à Cannes
l'année dernière: Atanarjuat, la légende de l'homme
rapide. La civilization inuit est une civilization
passionante et ce film magnifique permet d'en entrevoir certains
aspects." - Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic of France
"'The Fast Runner' is not merely an
interesting document from a far-off place; it is a
masterpiece. Mr. Kunuk's film, which won the Caméra d'Or for best
first feature at last year's Cannes International Film Festival, is much more
than an ethnographic curiosity. It is, by any standard, an
extraordinary film, a work of narrative sweep and visual beauty that honors the
history of the art form even as it extends its perspective." - AO Scott, New York Times
