SummaryEvil in the form of an unknown shaman divides a small community of nomadic Inuit, upsetting its balance and spirit. Twenty years pass. Two brothers emerge to challenge the evil order: Amaqjuaq, the Strong One, and Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner. [Lot 47 Films]
Directed By:Zacharias Kunuk
Written By:Paul Apak Angilirq, Norman Cohn, Zacharias Kunuk, Herve Paniaq, Pauloosie Qulitalik
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
91
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.3
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
97% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
3% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
A gorgeous, engrossing, utterly alien and fresh movie that has the human truth and impact of classic Greek myth and the overwhelming beauty and mastery of the greatest epic films.
100
Some may find it slow. I found it utterly spellbinding.
User score
Universal Acclaim
90% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
5% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
5% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Apr 2, 2012
10
This is a must see. Aboriginal cultures across Canada have great stories worthy of film. With these stories coming alive on film, we get to be immersed in Aboriginal legends. The history of the Fast Runner, comes alive with vivid imagery and will keep drawing you in. Watch the movie, embrace the Arctic, embrace the Innu. With 6 Genie Awards given, the critics are not wrong.
Mar 6, 2016
9
An amazing masterpiece that acts like a masterpiece that almost made it to the 10 score. That 10 area is locked and it's only accessed by masterpieces that I truly love.
100
Don't miss The Fast Runner. If you do, you will deprive yourself of not only one of the most intriguing feature-film projects in decades and enough plain-spoken anthropology for three credits at Harvard, but one of the most flat-out entertaining movies of the year.
90
It's a difficult film to follow and at 172 minutes is maybe a half-hour too long. But simply as a sensory experience The Fast Runner is amazing.
88
Magically transports the viewer across time and space. As it does so, it becomes a humbling reminder of the universality of the human experience.
80
At times it's plodding and inchoate, but there's certainly nothing else like it in the movies right now, and it has at least one great sequence.
50
It's an endurance test. Though never boring, the movie is a fairly long slog through the snow.
Aug 27, 2010
9
Being the first movie to ever be filmed in the Inuit language, Inuktitut, 'Atanarjuat' is as much a cultural edification as it is a sprawling tribal drama. Director Zacharias Kunuk uses the most of this unique setting, taking the time to admire the vast, open wilderness and infuse the traditions and lifestyle of the Inuit people into the script. The major misstep of this movie is its running time - at 172 minutes, I felt some of the lesser plot points could have been cut to make watching the movie less daunting. All in all, though, 'Atanarjuat' ranks as one of the better things to come out of Canada.
Production Company:
- Igloolik Isuma Productions Inc.
- National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
- Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
- CTV Television Network
- Canada Television and Cable Production Fund License Program (CTCPF)
- Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)
- Canadian Government
- Channel 24 Igloolik
- Telefilms Equity Investment Program
- Vision Television
Release Date:Jun 7, 2002
Duration:2 h 52 m
Rating:R
Website:
Awards
Genie Awards
• 6 Wins & 8 Nominations
American Indian Film Festival
• 4 Wins & 6 Nominations
First Americans in the Arts Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
