The Canadian film with the North American ice sheet as the background is as cool and free as the northern wind, mixed with a bit of a biting chill. Such a concise film, there are times when the audience doze off, when they smile, when they are amazed, and when they are even more melancholy. This film should not have been watched in a mental state with the same breath.
The story is very simple: a protagonist is an arrogant, rambunctious, strong "two hundred and five" man named Charlie Halliday. The other was an Inuit girl with bronchitis who needed medical attention. It was 1953, and the Inuit were naturally seen as inferior. Charlie frowned and, for the sake of two precious ivory, sent the girl back to town on his old-fashioned plane. The plane soon crashed into the deserted plain.
Charlie cursingly tries to contact the airport to fix the radio. There was no way to vent his anger, and he had to punch and kick the plane, as if there was no other passenger beside him. The girl looked at him without saying a word, her young face was calm. In the end Charlie announced that he was going to look east, spending a few weeks to see if there were any crowded places where he could call for help. He set off without thinking, leaving a few boxes of canned food for the girl, about half of the food rescued on the plane. The camera flashed by, but it can be seen that although this person has a bad temper, his quality is not too bad.
Canadians are really not afraid of the cold. On the wasteland in late autumn, there are puddles everywhere, and the cold wind howls. Charlie actually only wore a fleece jacket, carried a thin sleeping bag, and carried a shotgun on the road majestically. The camera is zoomed out, and the slender and vigorous figure is walking in a hurry, which is completely the momentum of a wilderness explorer.
Days passed and nothing was found. The good times didn't last long, the sky began to rain, and his tragic experience began. Several days of drizzle rain first wet the precious matches, and then lost the shotgun for self-defense. The cans I carry with me are long gone, and the sleeping bag is completely soaked. The shivering Charlie was having a nightmare of the past, and suddenly woke up and found that he was surrounded by mosquitoes that could bite people, and the suffocation density made him horrified. He slapped the mosquitoes hysterically, stumbled and ran until the last somersault fell down the hillside and passed out.
The rain stopped, and on the bitterly cold ground, there were actually small white flowers blooming. Charlie was lying on the sparse grass, the wind blowing across the turf, and the tiny petals danced gently between his fingers and beside his cheek. Then the dream began, and the Inuit girl came silently, covered him with a leather robe, took off his shoes, wrapped his feet in herbs, and lit a little bonfire.
Charlie woke up, sitting in a pile of leather robes in surprise. The girl was only wearing a red sweater and coughed while laughing. The two of them didn't speak very well. He gestured with two fingers as if he was walking on two legs, and he was walking in a hurry: "Why are you here? Are you following me?" This scene is because of those two hurrying fingers And looked very funny.
For the next meal, the girl began to wait for the gophers to take the bait with a very simple trap. This is one of the very funny fixed scenes in the film: Charlie like a monkey stands for a while, (the figure fades) for a while sitting, (the figure fades) for a while and simply lies down (the figure fades), and there is no peace for a moment. The girl, on the other hand, remained in one position and waited patiently.
The following few minutes are rare warm and lovely. The two tried their best to communicate a few words in their own languages, but they still couldn't get through. Charlie then watched, but with a sigh, the girl sewed boots from gopher hides, fished in puddles, made hot soup from tins, and took his tattered fleece while he was taking a shower to fix. Charlie shouted and protested, and in a panic, she stood up naked - I had to sigh: Although the body is strong, the skin is really white and tender!
The girl handed Charlie the finished boot. The latter took over this precious gift, and may have realized that in this isolated place, the change in the relationship between giving and receiving between two people was a little embarrassing. While trying to express her gratitude, the girl dragged him to the edge of the puddle and pushed him into the water. That's when Charlie realized how practical and comfortable Inuit boots were. The camera rises, looking down from the sky, only to see a man stomping his feet in the water on the green grass, and then kicking up a string of splashes, forcing the girl to laugh and escape. The simple desire for food and clothing brought them back to childhood.
(Flower Arrangement: Charlie doesn't seem to have a shortage of razors, despite everything. Months have passed and his jaw has been clean, but his hair has grown longer. See Barry Pepper's Ugly trooper heads, gangster heads, future human braids, New York yuppie splits, etc., but this 70s-inspired baby head is the first time I've seen it, and it's not bad.)
If it weren't for a girl The cough became worse and worse, and the snowflakes in winter began to fall. The two of them might really be able to wait like this on this deserted wasteland, hopelessly waiting for rescue.
They started introducing their names, awkwardly imitating each other's pronunciation. The two didn't talk much, but a tacit understanding gradually grew. Without any romance and hypocrisy, the crisis of existence makes two independent spirits have ignored the attraction of the opposite sex. They help each other hunt and depend on survival. After several clashes of values, Charlie succumbed to the girl's silent behavior. In addition to survival skills, he also acquired a new attitude towards life from the girl.
Desperate for an outside rescue, they decided to head north, hoping to meet the hunting crowd. Before setting off, the two of them immersed themselves in their preparations for the excursion. Charlie still seems to be babbling about all kinds of past life alone, and doesn't care if the other person is listening. The girl started coughing violently, and Charlie put his hand on the girl's forehead: she had a high fever. For the first time and the only time he panicked and hugged the girl in his arms, this girl who had never been unusually quiet and indifferent began to cry, just like every person who suffers alone suddenly gets a comforting embrace. She was still a child after all. Although she believed in the destination of the Inuit souls, she feared a dark death.
Charlie carried the girl on his back, chattering to himself, more or less alleviating the despair of the journey. They'll go back to town, they'll find the doctor, they'll go to that familiar steakhouse...though the girl probably doesn't understand what he's talking about. They kept walking like this, accompanied by the bloody sunset and the splendid aurora in the night. Until one day, Charlie saw the Snow Harrier for the second time. The snow-white unreal creature looked at him with bottomless black eyes.
The last scene of the film is a long shot. In the endless white, there are only a few small black shadows like ants. After going through such hardships and hardships, even for ants, every life is beautiful.
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