Educational Media Reviews Online

The National Film Board of Canada is known for its high quality, thoroughly professional documentaries. Silent Messengers, produced by the National Film Board, is a Canadian documentary that explores the mysteries of the Arctic Inuksuit with acclaimed ethnographer and photographer Norman Hallendy and well known First Nation sculptor-actor Natar Ungalaq (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, National Film Board of Canada, 2000) Much of the documentary takes place in the bleak and forbidding terrain around Cape Dorset and Igloolik in Arctic Canada. One great mystery of the Arctic north is the enigmatic stone slabs piled up to form “spirit doorways” by the ancestors of the Inuit. Silent Messengers is a very personal journey for friends Norman Hallendy and Natar Ungalaq, as they visit old friends, schoolchildren and relatives in this rambling arctic road show investigating the Inuksuit.

The cinematography in Silent Messengers is well crafted and beautiful. A variety of camera angles and shots are used in the film. Sound is good, but at times the rock/jazz soundtrack seemed out of place or too loud for the still arctic landscape. Color is vibrant and is effectively contrasted with the white arctic background.

My only criticism of Silent Messengers is that the video seemed to lack focus and organization. The film seemed more like a progression of personal experiences and reminiscences, than a documentary with a conventional beginning, middle, and end. Animal lovers should also be warned that a walrus is shot, butchered and eaten in one bloody scene.

Nevertheless, despite these flaws, I can recommend Silent Messengers to college and university level Native American Studies and Canadian Studies programs. I am sure that fans of The Fast Runner (2000) will also be interested in Silent Messengers.