Canadian history comes to poetic life on the big screen as directors Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu team to adapt Danish author Jørn Riel's novel about a mid-19th century Inuit family whose lives are forever changed with the arrival of Europeans on their native soil. It's summertime, a time when Inuit communities come together to share food and tell stories, and for the young to get married. Ningiuq (Ivalu) and her best friend, Kuutuguk (Mary Qulitalik), are elders in one such
community, and when Ningiuq gets word that the Europeans are advancing she fears for the future of her people. But Ningiuq has a more immediate problem to worry about as well; Kuutuguk has fallen gravely ill, and it looks as if she won't live to see another winter. After returning from a fishing excursion with a rather bountiful catch, Ningiuq, her grandson Maniq (Paul-Dylan Ivalu), and Kuutuguk prepare to dry the fish. Alone on a remote and uninhabited island, the trio waits for someone from their tribe to arrive and guide them back home. When no one appears to do so, Ningiuq and Maniq decide to set off for home while Kuutuguk waits behind. Unfortunately Ningiuq has a foreboding feeling about the journey, and she's about to discover just how accurate her instincts truly are. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Frustratingly sketchy partly because it is not finally a survival tale but a mystical evocation of the power of Inuit mythology, and how the passing down of ancient wisdom can sustain the human spirit in the direst circumstances.
The directors nevertheless manage to locate great reserves of sadness in the material, tapping a particularly rich vein in the wrinkled look of resignation on actress/co-director Ivalu's face.
Harrowing as the story is beneath the seal skins and beyond the tenuous, oily flame in centre frame, Before Tomorrow is endowed with a rich humanity and an almost heroic stoicism.
It's set in a forbidding landscape at a dangerous time, and Cousineau and Ivalu show how companionship and shared tradition can go a long way toward sustaining people even in the face of personal devastation.
A powerful Inuit film about the wisdom and skills of elders, the devastation wrought by contact with Westerners, the importance of community, and the magical connection between grandparents and grandchildren.
The third in a cinematic trilogy of pre-Christian Inuit life that began with Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner, Before Tomorrow is an outstanding film which presents a distinctly feminine view of the history of the Inuit.
Episodic portrayal of Arctic women's role in physical and cultural survival, from feisty friends to storytelling as a nurturing rite of passage, but depressingly realistic.
With its glacial pace and lack of action,this sample of Arctic artiness may be appreciated principally by anthropologists and social studies teachers and those who can enjoy seeing remote cultures through their own, aboriginal eyes.
The film is beautiful to behold: The Arctic tundra is a wondrous spectacle, especially in summer. It is well acted, with a naturalism that lends a documentary feel. It is thoughtfully dramatic, albeit in a subtle way.
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