The Fast Runner

One of the few successful attempts to capture the feel of myth onscreen, this near-three-hour epic presents the oft-told universal tale of a hero who brings law and principle to a disordered primitive society. In this specific case, the group is the Inuit, the natives of the Canadian Arctic, and the titular hero is Atanarjuat (Natar Ungalaaq), a member of a tribe contaminated by violence, who earns the enmity of Oki, son of the ruling shaman, by besting him in a contest for the maiden Atuat. Oki murders Atanarjuat's elder brother and sends our hero--in a visually astonishing sequence--fleeing naked across the snow-covered tundra, barely escaping death. Eventually, Atanarjuat returns with a tribal elder to confront Oki, claim Atuat, and cleanse the tribe of the evil legacy that has plagued it. Director Zacharias Kunuk refuses to complicate the characters' motivations or explain away the story's magical elements; he also eschews pseudo-poetic technique in favor of storytelling--all the more effective for its starkness and simplicity--making wondrous use of the icy, desolate, yet strangely beautiful locations. Austere and unhurried, The Fast Runner is like a languid dream of the past, a document with anthropological as well as cinematic worth. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (F. Swietek)