At the Movies: The Necessities of Life
Less is considerably more in this deft piece of film-making.
It is 1952 and Inuit hunter, Tiivii (Natar Ungakaaq) is taken from his Baffin Island home by hospital ship and transported to Quebec to be treated for tuberculosis. Apparently the Canadian government at the time felt obliged to act against the outbreak of European diseases in the native Canadian population. Tiivii’s prolonged absence is devastating for his wife and daughters - “Who will hunt for them? Who will get skins and meat for them?” he asks.
Far away in Quebec, Tiivii is surrounded by French-speaking monoglots, some of whom think he is a savage. His clothes are thrown away, his hair is cut and everything about his daily life is utterly alien. He tries to run away but he’s too sick, so he goes back to the sanatorium to die.
A kind-hearted nurse, Carole (Eveline Gelinas), finds a bilingual boy Kaki (Paul-Andre Brasseur) in a nearby ward and brings him to the fading Tiivii. The sound of his native Inuktik language works miracles for Tiivii and he strikes up a relationship with the orphaned Kaki. This assists Tiivii and nurse Carole to develop a friendship too, despite having virtually no language in common.
Here is all the raw material for a maudlin, mawkish, breast-beating, cliché-ridden piece of propaganda but The Necessities of Life never even approaches those hazards.
Anthropologist-turned-filmmaker Bernard Émond’s script and Benoît Pilon’s direction combine to produce a visually gorgeous and emotionally affecting film that avoids being too judgemental.
As Tiivii, Ungakaaq is superb. His handsome angular face is mostly impassive and his speech is decidedly spare, but we somehow get inside his head and see the craziness and frustration of his situation in the sanatorium.
The film moves slowly, especially at the start - there are longish stretches where virtually nothing is said. Film fans with an aversion to subtitles need not be put off. In fact, if you were ever going to break through that particular barrier, this French/Inuktitut gem provides a great opportunity.
What then are the necessities of life, if this thoughtful and lovely film is to be believed? It offers quite a few possible answers: communication, connection, acceptance, beliefs, respect, a knowledge of your place in the world, family.
I liked The Necessities of Life for the dignified restraint it shows. I liked the look of the film, the sound of the film and almost all of the performances in it.
Neil Wilson
The necessities of life (PG). Next screening at The Village Theatre: Sat 21 August at 7.30pm.
