Tear jerker

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2009)

This is not a perfectly executed film but it is not diminished by its many faults. There are so many continuity errors you'd think it would distract from the tale. They don't. The story is a powerful one. Acting is also uneven yet that too doesn't detract. Amazingly, this is a very compelling film. Even when you can guess the outcome you'll still shed a tear or two at the end. The real story is mostly in the silences - the lost wife, the watching by the shaman, the aborted telephone call....this is what you watch. You know perfectly well what they mean and you apply whatever your cultural expectations determine for you. And that is the ultimate message of this film.