From inaccurate documentary depictions (Nanook of the North, various NFB works) to the endless development hell of Mordecai Richler’s Atuk, the Inuit people haven’t had an easy time of it on film. While much progress has been made in recent years especially with one of this reviewer’s favourite Canadian films, The Grizzlies, screen-based dramas on the people and rich history of the north are hard to come by (gold rush stories notwithstanding).
Since 1990, Nunavut filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and his team at Isuma Productions have been hard at work bringing Inuit-based dramas to the screen with acclaimed works with hits like Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner and Journals of Knud Rasmussen. I’m embarrassed to admit I haven’t had the pleasure of reviewing his work so I’ve aimed to correct that with Kunuk’s latest dramatic venture, the true story of One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk.
The eponymous Noah (Apayata Kotierk) has followed the traditions of his ancestors well into the 20th century. Although he has found it beneficial to trade with the white man for certain items (tea, dinnerware and even using Eatons Catalogues for wallpaper!), he has largely stuck to the old ways, living off the land via seal hunting.
On a fateful day during a break in one of these hunts, Noah crosses paths with an agent of the Canadian Government (Kim Bodina) on a mission to round up any extant nomads in the area and have them move to a settlement in exchange for allowance and education. Noah is puzzled by the idea of having to assimilate into the modern world, convinced that his way of life is fine the way it is. The agent isn’t giving up until he gets the answer he wants and with muddy translations further complicating things, doesn’t hesitate to imply that the Feds will come for Noah’s children, whether he joins them in the settlement or not. It soon becomes evident that even if Noah resists today, he will ultimately have to reckon with an unstoppable tomorrow.
Told in a series of long takes, Noah Piugattuk unfolds quietly and naturally as the true event itself likely did. We’re slowly introduced to Noah, his family and their way of life as they go about their business of hunting and are effectively ensconced with the group by the time the agent shows up. Apayata Kotierk disappears into the role as Noah and capably shoulders the weight both the film and the events place on him. He is given almost all the close-ups here and fills them with a resolute soul weighing the cost and ramifications of the crossroads he’s being forced onto.
Filmed entirely on Nunavut’s icy tundra, this can’t have been an easy shoot, but the strive for authenticity pays off with little details like visible breath and frozen water on facial hair helping to centre the audience squarely in the moment. However, the film does threaten to lose its audience as the central meeting between the characters drags on and on. While I can appreciate the intent to show Noah and company being worn down by invasive bureaucracy, the film could’ve easily been 15 minutes shorter while still getting its point across.
The film delivers understated yet urgent drama that is all the more meaningful as seen 60 years on from its events. Robert Flaherty felt the need to stage most of the events for Nanook of the North in the name of cultural preservation. With the help of its Inuit’s filmmakers, One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk evades artifice and achieves a lasting portrait of an ancient way of life forced to reckon with an encroaching modern world.
8/10
