The beginning
I arrived 10 minutes late to the cinema. Could anyone tell me how's it, please?
shareI forgot to ask. What were those "shoes" Atanarjuat wore in the scene where he hits his brother's assasins with a stick in an igloo for?
shareThose shoes (they looked like primitive skates) were to give him stability while accosting Oki and his gang. He intentinally made the igloo floor extra slick so that he'd have the advantage against 3 men.
Thanks, but can you please tell me the beginning?
shareThere is an excellent summary of the plot at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atanarjuat.
Obviously lots of spoilers, but it will answer all your questions.
The wikipedia entry refers to the visitor as a shaman. I don't know a lot about this sort of mythology, but wasn't he more a trickster than a shaman? Or maybe I've got the terms wrong. Or the scenes. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen but there's a lot going on and it's a whole different world. Maybe with a few more viewings.
But anyway, my take on it was that the visitor wasn't human. He was a spirit making deals with people, the "I'll give you 20 years of good luck, but then you're mine, sealed with a kiss" sort. Isn't that him that shows fast runner where to jump for thick enough ice when running from Oki?
I though shamans were the humans who claimed to communicate with the spirits, not the spirit.
Shamans were the wisest of the humans. The beginning shows a battle between a good and bad shaman, and the good shaman lost for some reason. The Grandmother says 'we do not know why he came (the evil shaman) and spread evil." Shamans are so wise they can communicate with the spirits in the dead world. One of the spirits (the grandmothers brother maybe who died?) did guide him through the ice, appearing in human form in the living world.
shareIsn't that him that shows fast runner where to jump for thick enough ice when running from Oki?
That was Qulitalik, the brother of Panikpak. She is the wife of Kumaglak, the leader who is mysteriously murdered at the beginning of the film.
At the beginning of the film, it is implied that Qulitalik is ordered to leave the Igloolik community.
Atanjuat sees Qulitalik in a vision as he is running across the ice. Just before that moment, Qulitalik was gathering eggs across the frozen expanse. Qulitalik sensed something, and it is implied he....projected...himself towards that something. The "something" was Atanjuat's desperation to survive, his spirit crying to survive.
Shortly after, Panikpak conjures Qulitalik incarnate, begging him to help fight against the darkness that has plagued the community since Oki seized control of the leadership through mendacious, murderous methods.
Very Shakespearean...
"Very Shakespearean... "
I've always thought of it that way also.
"You think you know, what you are, what's to come,
U DUN EVIN GOT STURTED."
You're right (churchr-1) and Wikipedia is wrong! The visitor was an evil spirit, and Panikpak (the 'Grandmother' character in the story) later calls on her brother Qulitalik who left the community when Sauri (Oki's father) assumed control.
Her brother rescues Atanarjuat from the Ice, before using his Rabbit's feet to 'drug' Oki, snd return to Igloolik. He and Panikpak then summon and destroy the evil spirit.
Both Panikpak and her brother Qulitalik then, would appear to possess what we understand as shamanic training.
If you missed the first ten minutes, don't worry. The first hour is relatively superfluous and drawn out.
"Do you really think it's cool to hit the sauce with a bun in the oven?"
If you missed the first ten minutes, don't worry. The first hour is relatively superfluous and drawn out.
What are you talking about? You need to see the first 10 minutes to better understand what is happening at the end. share