Far North

I recently watched a film entitled, 'Far North.'  The premise is that a small family unit, consisting of two women; one decidedly matriarchal - are travelling a frozen wasteland.  They are running from something, and judging from their relatively casual demeanour you immediately surmise that this tundra really is isolated, otherwise the chase would involve a more 'aliens-esque' kind of frantic running (which it doesn't).  Living from the land like traditional inuit/eskimo people, the viewer follows their exploits in reasonably graphic detail (you will understand why, when you reach the end of the flim), until the elder of the two women comes across a dying man.

At this point the dynamic that has been established by the director, between the two women, erodes into a more familiar, immediately recognisable family unit.

When the original relationship is irrevocably lost we see why the older woman has chosen to live her life in such a way; through flashbacks that chronicle her motives.  In these sequences we see how this story eventually ends, and it is a stunning way of foreshadowing events.  I cannot say anymore without spoiling the ending.  Although the ending is as predictable as the tides; it is handled in a way that, frankly speaking, will stay with me forever.  (Isn't that what good film-making is all about)

This movie should be a great incentive to those who wish to make film.  Instead of billing your film as something new or absurdly fantastical; instead of ladening the CG director with the task of filling every shot with an explosion, take a simple story, and time-worn concepts, such as betrayal, (as in this film) and explore that through believable characterisation.  So the situation they find themselves in may be fantastic; but the isolation serves a genuine purpose, forcing these individuals together.  This film needs no extra padding because of the very nature of the plot.

Sean Bean is the soldier who needs saving, Michelle Krusiec is the daughter, and Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hiden Dragon; James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies; Memoirs of a Geisha) steals the show, basically.  She is the main character by default, because she is the reason they are all in this place; and her final act is the aforementioned memory that will last a lifetime.