Northern Lights

A dramamentary of the forming of the Non-Partisan League in North Dakota -- this stark, loving film portrays the struggle of the local NoDaks versus the railroads, banks and granaries controlled by distant Minnesotans. This is a classic that reaches toward the level of "Salt of the Earth."

I saw Northern Lights years ago on VHS. I was extremely pleased with its gritty reality, sensitivity to Norwegian immigrants, and awareness that something very important happened in the frigid north lands in the early 20th Century. There is a certain realistic world view among North Dakotans. Add to that a sense that people can work together to survive. Since the film is not available, I'm forgetting the look of the photography. But do remember how striking the black, white and gray seemed. It suited my memory of childhood farm life on the plains. I have looked for a DVD source of this movie for a long time, and am glad a friend recommended IMDb.com to me as a way to find someone who knew about it. It is unknown to most people whom I ask about it. As a North Dakota native, I want this work released on DVD.

In Northern Lights, events which threatened to supplant the 19th century Mid Western Scandinavian immigrants from their farms are inextricably wound around images of light, cold and bleak yet rich landscape in a hostile world. The film effectively transplants the cozy viewer onto a frigid plain that makes him shiver and gasp at the audacity and courage of a people determined to survive under the worst conditions. And yet not only do they survive, they develop a kind of weed-like tenacity that finds sustenance in the most unlikely places and makes us wonder wide-eyed at their ability to prosper. Theirs is a community threatened by powerful interests who would ride on the backs of those men and women who already bear the burden of an almost unbelievably heavy load. Through it all, we admire the beauty they have found, the simplicity of their tenacity, the magnificence of the Northern Lights in an already deep and mysterious sky. The people in this drama are themselves the Northern Lights who settled a region. This is film-making and storytelling at its best.

... in the middle of a community. the images, the dialogues, the landscapes, the gestures. more powerful than the story itself. because it is a well known fight for justice. because the sadness and the enthusiasm for a fragile cause are familiar from neo-realism. and the events are good reference to " Terra tremula". but it is more than a chronicle . or hommage. or remember. it is one of films who you expect. as a sort of refuge. as the meet with old fashion cinema and its virtues. a film about survive. and love. and friendship and brotherhood and solitude, challenges and justice. poetic, profound, superb, salted.

My wife and I saw _Northern Lights_ on its release in a movie theater in the ante-VHS/DVD/Web era, and both share the view that this is a great film. It brings to mind Howard Zinn's _People's History of the United States_ in that it immerses us in an authentic American narrative that has generally not appeared in the mainstream, either historical or cinematic. It's over thirty years since I've seen it, so I can only report the memory of my feelings, and I recall being stirred and drawn in, emotionally engaged, feeling that this movie was a real work of art. It came up recently when we were discussing a visiting friend's ancestry. I'm bummed that it's apparently unavailable? On Amazon, the VHS tape is selling for a low of $74 and a high of $132.09. Doesn't this price suggest that there's a market for this film out there, so WOULDN'T IT MAKE BUSINESS SENSE to put it out on DVD? If anyone reading this knows how this works, maybe they could pursue it. Yoo-hoo, Criterion Collection?