Greg Wright What happens when a headstrong rumrunner crash-lands in the Arctic Barrens?In 2003's The Snow Walker, this question has to be answered in the context of post-World War II technology, not with the luxury of GPS beacons and satellite phones. Fortunately for Charlie, part of his cargo includes an Inuit girl suffering from tuberculosis. So while Charlie goes postal over the frustration of a carefree bush-pilot life gone dangerously awry, Kanaalaq goes quietly about her business catching fish, snaring small mammals, curing furs, and gathering firewood.When Charlie's eventual desperate heroics go predictably sour, the pair settle down to a late summer of domesticity (of a sort) preparing for the eventual long winter walk back to civilization.The story is quite simple. (Remember when movies felt more like short stories rather than bloated Peter Jackson / Michael Bay / J. J. Abrams collaborations?) Director Charles Martin Smith quietly captures the desolate beauty of the Barrens as well as the delicate transformation of souls on the brink of life and death. The camera swoops nowhere, and there are no explosions or CGI-inspired chase scenes. A sequence in which Charlie and Kanaalaq corner some caribou features real animals. Imagine that.About the only missteps in the movie involve the rather contrived conflicts amongst a cadre of fellow bush pilots, helmed by veteran actor James Cromwell, which attempts a rescue for their lost buddy. But given the strength of the film's story, setting, pacing, and performances from Barry Pepper and first-time actor Annabella Piugattuk, that story shortcoming is barely noticeable. In some ways, it even makes the film more accessible to a non-Yukon audience. The critical consensus at Rotten Tomatoes for this award- winning Canadian film is a pretty amazing 86% fresh.Charles Martin Smith, of course, was well-equipped to make this film, having worked with such great directors as George Lucas in American Graffiti, Brian DePalma in The Untouchables, and Carroll Ballard in Never Cry Wolf (among many other films).In Wolf, in fact, Smith played a character autobiographically inspired by author Farley Mowat -- and from the friendship spawned between Smith and Mowat came Mowat's offer for Smith to adapt the work of his choice. Smith chose a Mowat short story about a downed bush pilot, and The Snow Walker was born.Smith is a gifted filmmaker. If you've seen Dolphin Tale, you're familiar with his work. Take a chance on a small gem of a film.

Terry Davis I loved this film, and I didn't expect to. It's not particularly well shot.The white owl metaphor makes the movie make sense.I really would have liked the film much better if she had lived, it was very hard to accept. If she had lived it wouldn't have moved me as much I suppose.But I would have been OK with that. I find myself getting upset that she sacrificed herself, and I would have rather she had lived. I guess I said that already.I find myself telling myself, its only a movie.My gosh.

Wizard-8 When I first heard of this movie years ago, I thought that this would be the movie to finally connect with a Canadian (and international) audience. It had a budget significantly higher than the typical Canadian movie, a fairly well-known American actor in the lead, and support of a major theatrical distributor. However, the distributor didn't give the movie much of a release, and did little to market it. The other day I found a DVD copy of the movie in the library and decided to finally watch it to see if I could determine why the movie got little push.It didn't take me long to start seeing why the distributor probably got nervous about the movie. While it's not an awful movie - it will do if you are pressed to find a movie and can't find anything better - it's kind of a disappointment. Despite the money spent, a lot of the movie looks more like a CBC TV drama instead of theatrical quality. The two central characters don't really spark when placed together, a lot of that being because the Inuit woman character can't speak much English. The movie also keeps cutting back to characters in civilization for no apparent reason except maybe to pad out the running time. There is some nice scenery (though it starts to look all alike after a while), and occasional excitement, but for the most part the movie feels very restrained in most departments. Little wonder then why the movie never got a theatrical release outside of Canada and got thrown away on its native soil.

ClericOni I must say I am very surprised that this movie wasn't released in the theaters. This movie deserves an Oscar. It truly does. The acting is very realistic, there isn't a single scene that ruins the storyline, and the psychology of the characters are well reflected. I am shocked to see that Annabella Piugattuk hasn't done other movies even though she is an amazing actress. Her acting can truly make many of the so called actresses in the industry blush in shame. I wasn't sure how it was going to be at first but right after I watched this beautiful movie, I was filled with emotions. In today's movie world, we rarely get movies this touching and beautiful. Please don't think this is one of those Lifetime love story, or Hallmark religious movies. It's none of that. It's not just a boring movie filled with beautiful scenery either. It's a survival, adventure, and action movie filled with friendship, self discovery, love and emotion. If you're watching this movie expecting Hostel, or Conan The Barbarian with blood and guts flying all over the place, then this isn't for you. But that doesn't mean the movie has no action. No matter what type of movie you like, I can't recommend this movie enough. You owe it to yourself to see it at least once. I'm sure you won't regret it.