L'instinct qui veille

Contrived story surrounds a woman who is being blackmailed by a ship's captain who has killed her father and threatens to kills her ailing husband. She's saved by a dog. This is lifted a level above most of its ilk by the quality of its dark, harsh vision: from the first, we're in an arctic canada wher ruthlessness is the rule, as a dog's owner is killed in a bar for no reason (except that he's a "chinaman") much to the amusement of the bar's denizens. Good atmosphere.

It's a thrill to see this excellent film on video (Milestone, 2000). Nell Shipman was an extraordinary woman and it's great to see her work being made available to a wide audience. The scenes of her with wild animals, part of the menagerie she kept in northern Idaho, are extraordinary, and the climactic chase is very suspenseful. The restoration by D.J. Turner of the National Archives of Canada is wonderful, and the music by Phil Carli is appropriate. Alternate piano scores for this and Something New, Shipman's wacky car chase film, from live performances, available from me.

I taped this film for three reasons - one) I wanted to see whether an early silent film from Canada would be any good. two) it's a restored print, and though I heard the old print of this was horridly damaged, this one was supposed to be MUCH better (it isn't half bad). And with the freshly recorded piano score, it didn't seem restored, either. three) It's supposed to be a well-regarded but highly underrated (and unknown) film, and that made me curious.

This film should be a classic! (At least in Canada). One of, if not the first Canadian films, and with a fairly low budget, it's actually rather impressive. Yet no one I know has heard of it, or even realizes film was being made in Canada this far back.

The story is a touch cliche, and there's a fair amount of schlock (prevalent in many silent films of the late teens/early twenties), but the story is interesting enough to keep my interest and the scenery is quite taking. And I was most surprised at the cinematography and editing, which is far more advanced then I expected.

It's not Birth of a Nation, it's not Metropolis, it's not Nosferatu. But it's well worth watching, and should really be shown more, if not at the Rep houses, then on TV at least. 7/10.

The plot is pretty uneven in terms of structure and some of the supporting performances are a touch on the hammy side, but BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY is too much fun to dismiss. Nell Shipman plays a nature-loving woman who is as far from the damsel-in-distress cliche as you can get. (Yes, there were strong female characters before the 21st century!) She's no fool, able to hold her own when pursued by villains. In fact, her husband's more of a distressed damsel (or in this case, distressed dude, I suppose) than she!

It is interesting to see Dolores LeBeau (Nell Shipman) participate in two roles in this movie, one being the pseudo-nude scene, and other being the role of female heroine. The former was certainly written into the script to draw male viewers to the movie houses. It cannot be seen that she is wearing a body suit, so one is given to their imagination. More importantly, however, is the latter - the female heroine - which was rare during that time.

The movie has several questional elements in the plotline (why does 'Sealskin' Blake have no trouble killing a Canadian Mountie, but cannot bring himself to overtly kill Dolores LeBeau's husband?), but the movie has several special effects (tinted film, scene within a scene) that make it worthwhile viewing.