Anyone in the business of storytelling should begin with a good story, which is precisely what Norwegian director Nils Gaup did for his Oscar nominated debut feature, adapting a thousand year old Scandinavian legend about a young boy who rescues a small community of fellow Laplanders from a horde of ruthless invaders. The setting may be exotic (the film was shot almost entirely above the Arctic Circle) but the basic mythic outline can be (and likely has been) translated anywhere, from the American West to "
a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away". Certain elements are by now so familiar they might almost be clichés: the young hero, orphaned by an evil enemy (the Tchudes, dressed all in black and speaking a harsh, guttural language); his refuge with a likewise threatened nearby tribe, who see him as their savior; the medicine man who will guide him to wisdom; and so forth. Gaup knows enough not to embellish an already proved formula, and as a result his film offers brisk, uncomplicated entertainment, with action scenes as thrilling as anything coming out of Hollywood these days. But now that the legend is on film, will future generations of Lapp children learn it from their elders by simply renting a DVD?
Review of Pathfinder
