The Journals Of Knud Rasmussen | Review

Drama neglects taking the discussion beyond the less provocative, fabled level.

Nigerians have what they call their Nollywood and thanks to the same filmmaking technologies, the Inuit can now filmically lay claim to an almost extinct heritage with a cinema that they can call their own. Zacharias Kunuk whose benchmark Cannes-winning Camera d’Or Atanarjuat is a specimen that can be described as miraculous, alas this follow-up might mention godly interventions but it fails to prolong the fascination that many had with the 2001 film.

Co-directed and co-written with Norman Cohn, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen examines the roots of all evils, specifically the chastising effects that the white man and the Christian way have on already punctured communities of the North. Specifically, the narrative focalizes on the accumulation of guilt and emotional weight it has on the psyche of a tribe shaman and his daughter. Based on the recordings during the 20th century expeditions of one Knud Rasmussen, at times viewers might get a sense that the only interference to be found is witnessed in a sequence where a bunch of thimbles for sewing are handed out like candy, but the social ills are later defined in the final stages of the film.

Branding itself with the same contagious smiles and faces that prove that hardship come not from extreme conditions but from quarrels among differences of opinion, Kunuk uses the same sort of storytelling style that uses a doc touch and the vast Inuit legend but if you’re wondering why Greenland belongs to the Danes you won’t find answers here. The narrative suggests that Rasmussen the explorer documented the changes among the people – basically when Ten Commandments come into play and have the influence to separate tribes then the snow hit the fans.

For those that want to champion this film it’s not the return to the familiar local, nor another love triangle and nor the language that should turn viewers off, but perhaps the return to a storytelling form frozen in the mythic and the spiritual. With the mix of non actors, perhaps this could have benefited from a contemporary look forward juxtaposing the Inuit identity of today with a commentary that criticizes the negative Christian European influence that stretched out into the communities of the North. Taking the discussion to a more provide less fabled level would allow for the flourishes of imagination such as the key repeated sequence of a living person making love to the spirits as a poignant use of the digital technology and merging the past with the present. While it feels less spatial movement, less poetic in imagery and less impressive, this Canadian/Danish co-production should find limited success via festival runs.

Rating 1.5 stars