Far North (2007) starring Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Krusiec, Sean Bean directed by Asif Kapadia Movie Review

Far North (2007)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Michelle Krusiec and Sean Bean in Far North (2007)

Love Yurts

When she was born Saiva (Michelle Yeoh) had a curse put upon her which has led to her living her life away from most others other than Anja (Michelle Krusiec) a younger woman who Saiva took in as baby and become like her own daughter. Together they lead a nomadic life style going from one place to another with their huskies, doing there best to stay away from others especially soldiers who slaughtered many of their tribe. That is until one day Saiva comes across Loki (Sean Bean) an injured and starving soldier who she takes back to their Yurt. Suddenly with a man living with them changes everything including the dynamics of their own relationship as Anja and Loki become close.

When "Far North" started I couldn't help thinking that this sounded like a variation of Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel's "The Beguiled" as we have the arrival of a man altering the dynamics between women. But I had a niggling feeling that "Far North" couldn't be as obvious as that and there must be a different angle. Well the answer is both yes and no as how this plays out is certainly different and frankly a little shocking yet there is still that obvious side, an element of jealousy which you know is going to be there. It is hard to explain other than to say if you have been close to your adopted daughter and she has basically become your whole life how would you react if a man arrived and suddenly she wanted to leave with him, leaving you all alone?

There is more to "Far North" than that and not only do we get a lot of scenic photography with the baron ness of the landscape highlighted but we also get flashbacks to the characters back story which for me seems like padding. What it means is that the story to "Far North" would have probably worked at about 45 minutes but feels drawn out and overly slow as scenic shots and back stories are added to extend the running time up to the 90 minute mark.

What this all boils down to is that "Far North" has its good points especially when it comes to what happens when a man enters the situation between a woman and her adopted daughter. But at the same time it is painfully slow with many a scene involving the characters backgrounds being overly drawn out.


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