Arctic Son

Filmmaker Andrew Walton's mostly cinéma vérité Arctic Son gets underway when Stanley Njootli, Jr.—an aimless young man who likes to party in bars around Washington state's Puget Sound area—is invited by his father, Stanley, Sr., up to Old Crow, a small village in the Yukon Territory some 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Approximately 300 people live in this small settlement, most of them members of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. According to the senior Njootli, “There are two kinds of people here. Those who want to be here, and those who can't afford to be anywhere else.” After Stanley Jr. arrives, he's faced with the twin challenges of what to do with himself in this tiny community on the tundra, and how to handle the anger he feels toward his father, who has been absent for most of the son's life. Initially, Stanley Jr. tries to blast away his boredom and discomfort with a combination of loud music and the “wicked” moonshine brewed in this dry town, but when father and son embark on a hunting and fishing trip into the Arctic wild, the chill between the pair finally begins to warm, as they bond over fixing the son's temperamental Skidoo, spread fishnet below the ice, snare rabbits, and track caribou. Arctic Son captures these transformations with such sensitivity and subtlety that it's not entirely apparent just how much both men have changed until the very end. DVD extras include an interview with the director, additional scenes, and an artwork gallery. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Wadland)