As with Robert Flaherty in his classic Nanook of the North, Bulgarian filmmaker Milko Lazerov creates an ethnographic narrative of dwellers in the arctic (here the Mongolian-Asian far north, in Yakutia, using a sparse cast of locals re-enacting timeless traditional life, with often sublime visuals. The simple but affecting story, strung along with astounding widescreen vistas and snowy-white compositions depict an aged couple, Nanook (Mikhail Aprosimov) and his ailing but upbeat wife Sedna (Feodosia Ivanova), in their routines of trapping, fur-making (not simulated, we must warn animal lovers) and protecting their yurt during heavy storms. Industrial civilization - to which their estranged daughter Ága ran away - is a distant but tangible force, apparently a factor in the thinning reindeer herds, slowly rising temperatures, and dying wildlife that etches pain on Nanook's largely inexpressive face. Slow-paced but majestic, it ends with a timely indictment of "civilization" and the wounds it has inflicted on the Earth. Highly recommended. Dialogue in Yakut with English subtitles. (Aud: P)
Aga
Aga
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