Review DVD: The Snow Walker (2003)

September 2, 2006

Barry Pepper

I was completely absorbed by this movie, which features a bush pilot (top of the food chain) and a sick Eskimo girl (bottom of the food chain) brought together when he agrees to transport her to a hospital in return for two ivory tusks.

The the plane crashes and his change of course was not reported. They are down in the middle of a vast tundra with no hope of being found, and their positions are reversed. The movie plays this out slowly and capably, but it becomes clear within the next 30 minutes that he will live or die because of her Earth knowledge, and everything he knows about flying, technology, and the “other world” is useless.

This is not so much a love story but rather a story about the enduring value of humanity, and of human respect for and knowledge of the Earth. The ending is spectacular, I will not spoil it by revealing it here. Totally uplifting and definitely provokes reflection. One of my favorite “serious” movies.