La Légende de Sarila

The trailer made this look like a good family movie. But it falls far short of good...it's terrible. If based on Inuit legends and myths, no effort was made to explain or define anything. Story line was terribly slow to develop and it was quite easy to predict how particular events would unfold. The sound audio was terrible and it proved very very difficult to understand what the characters were saying. . Character development was non-existent... I would recommend avoiding this movie...young children will not understand it and will probably be scared by some of the evil spirits (which just show up and are not explained in any way).

I think a 5.3 rating here is completely undeserving. It's a wonderful re-imaging of Inuit traditions, myths and legends.

The animation is solid and it's true to its source material. The evil spirits could be a little too scary for under 6s, but this story aims for the 8 - 12 age anyhow, and for that age group it's a wonderful adventure tale with a rich respect for cultures.

A nice Sunday afternoon film for the family, so give it a go if it's on TV or rent it. Sure it's not a must own film, but its charming enough and definitely better than many of the animated sequels pumping in hundreds of million into studio pockets.

Man, what the hell, I will open up my heart with you guys right here right now.

I was NOT expecting much of this movie, actually I thought it would be pretty crap, I even prepared some beers and some snacks, sure... I thought "I'm really gonna need to feel my belly in order to take the emptiness of this movie" (this thought was good I need to write that, duh, I'm doing it already), anyway... All that bacon with bbq and beer does not hold me any longer and I started to give this movie a chance, those Inuit guys are hilarious, oh my god, I almost threw up (I actually kinda did a little bit on the carpet but it was OK, almost can't tell the difference only get a little bit darker with the taint), when they start to run, man, got to tell you, nobody can stop them! THE ANIMATION IS VERY GOOD, AWESOME QUALITY AND I EVEN GONNA INVITE ALL MY FAMILY FOR THE NEXT SESSION. I know understand a bit more of INUIT culture and Nancy Savard as director? This dude really knows what the is doing, some scenes really keeps you on thinking, oh my god, then you notice that it is just a movie, but sometimes you even lose track of this, you really feel yourself living that, oh my god. Well, not the part of starvation, that part I really did not feel. Enjoy the movie holmes.

a nice film. noble intentions. Inuit folklore/tradition as interesting support . but something essential is missing. sure, magic, envy, the way who transforms the lead hero. all well known from old fairy tale. but the obstacles are not the essence of adventure. it is the mark of improvisation who defines this animation who remains a nice film but nothing more.

Croolik apparently became a shell of his former self when his sons died. Too bad we never learn what kind of person he used to be aside from a shaman and apparently not evil. Also, the writers have a tendency to blame the whole thing on buzzwords for things that turn people evil without putting too much thought into it. ("You're blinded by pride and ambition!" "Ambition? At this point in the movie I'm just trying to kill Markussi.") But I found myself caring about him anyway.

Markussi's "I don't want to be a shaman" subplot was interesting, but it's pretty much all we know about him. What's his favorite color? How does he feel about his parents being dead? No idea. Sedna mentions something about using his powers for personal gain versus using them for the good of the tribe, but that doesn't really go anywhere either. Again, I found myself caring about him anyway.

We know even less about what goes on in Apik's head. The movie tries to give her some characterization when her mom doesn't want her to go on the journey to Sarila, but since the crow spirit chose her in this ceremony that the whole tribe agreed would determine who goes to Sarila her decision to defy her mother and go on an adventure was really just the obvious thing to do under the circumstances. Depending on how strictly you interpret the criteria she might also fail the Sexy Lamp Test. (Thanks to Sedna and Saya the movie as a whole passes, but the way things are set up it looks like Apik was supposed to be the female lead and they were supposed to be more minor characters.) Again, I found myself caring about her anyway.

Poutulik basically just exists so Croolik has someone to give that amulet to. I'd like to say I ended up caring about him anyway but uh... no, not really. Also, he's a hunter who kills animals - but only off screen. Whenever an animal actually appears on screen the others are all "Oh, don't kill that lemming, he's to small to be worth the trouble." "Oh, don't kill that... caribou?, she's pregnant." I can understand the reasoning behind this, but it's still a bit distracting once you notice it.

Speaking of animals and weird things, the marketing decision - I mean lemming - is a lot more stylized than the humans or the other animals. Which is not all that good for the suspension of disbelief.

Plus there's what basically amounts to a clip show in the middle of the movie. Seriously, why?

Basically, if the writers had put a bit more thought into what really goes on inside the characters' heads, dropped the clip show (and maybe one of Croolik's attempts to kill Markussi) and used the extra time for some more character development this could have been a much better movie. As it is it's not bad, it's just not very good either.