A documentary about the life of Indians in Northern Canada.A documentary about the life of Indians in Northern Canada.A documentary about the life of Indians in Northern Canada.
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The movie was shot on location in Ontario and Quebec and utilizes a completely Native cast who, along with the filmmakers, endured great hardships in recreating a story of trial and perseverance concerning the Ojibway's search for food during a famine (the title refers to hunger) that drove them further and further North from their traditional homeland which was just South of Hudson's Bay. It was shot during the particularly harsh winter of 1928-1929 where temperatures at one point reached 40 degrees below zero. Everything in SILENT ENEMY from the birch bark canoes to the clothes and the animal hide teepees were completely authentic and were made by the then current descendants of the Ojibways.
Woven into the movie's migration saga is a fictional love triangle (thus further distancing SILENT ENEMY from NANOOK) that was hoped would give the movie more mainstream appeal to an audience in 1930. Most of this plotline was removed when the movie was edited down so that it could be used as an educational film in schools. For years that edited down version (including an added narration soundtrack) was the only version available. Finally in 1972, film preservationist David Shepard located a full length tinted and toned print in the vaults at Paramount (the film's original distributor) and it was acquired by the American Film Institute who began the task of preservation. They premiered it at AFI in 1973.
The original THE SILENT ENEMY VHS and later DVD featured an organ soundtrack that was taken from the original 1930 score which greatly enhanced the viewing experience. That release also featured a number of special features giving background on the making of the movie and the people involved with it. After a few years, this edition became no longer available and all there was to represent the film were cheap copies of the old educational version. Now Flicker Alley has given us back the original print and it remains a movie that once seen, cannot be forgotten. This Blu-Ray release comes with a booklet and two new soundtracks to choose from.
Very well done, with much location shooting under trying circumstances for both the Ojibwe Indian cast and the crew. Interesting wild animal sequences, especially of the caribou.
The sound mostly is fine organ playing, with a short spoken introduction by Chief Yellow Robe (who played Chetoga, tribe leader).
Did you know
- TriviaThe "silent enemy" of the title is hunger.
- Quotes
[introducing the film]
Chetoga - Tribe Leader: This picture is the story of my people. I speak for them because I know your language. In the beginning, the Great Spirit gave us this land. The wild game was ours to hunt. We were happy when game was plenty. In years of famine, we suffered. Soon, we will be gone, your civilization will have destroyed us. But by your magic, we will live forever. We thank the white men who helped us to make this picture. They came to our forests, they shared our hardships, they listened to our old men around the campfire. We told them the stories our grandfathers told us. That is why this picture is real. Look not upon us as actors, we are living our own life today as we lived it yesterday. Everything you see is as it always has been. Our buckskin clothes, our birchbark canoe, our wigwam, and our bows and arrows. All were made by my people just as they always have done. Only six of these Indians have ever seen a motion picture. Many of them are still in the forest, hunting the game that is ever growing less. Still it is the great drama of the North, the struggle for meat and never-ending fight against the silent enemy.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Dreamland: A History of Early Canadian Movies 1895-1939 (1974)
- SoundtracksRain Flower
Written by Sam Coslow and Newell Chase
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 24m(84 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1