Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

ackstasis It's always good to see a truly unique film come out of Australian cinema, and, once again, Netherlands-born Australian director Rolf de Heer proves that he's probably the most exciting filmmaker working in the local industry at present. Along with first-time director Peter Djigirr, de Heer has produced an invaluable cultural document, telling a tale of Australian aboriginal life in the time long before Europeans ever arrived, which instantly sets it apart from most other works of Aborigine-related Australian cinema {such as 'Walkabout (1971)' and 'Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)'}. 'Ten Canoes (2006)' is also unusual in that it is the first to be filmed entirely in an Indigenous Aboriginal language {though David Gulpilil's narration is available in both English and the language Yolŋu Matha, I chose the latter for the sake of authenticity}. Fortunately, the Australian Film Institute saw fit to reward the film with the highest honours at the 2006 AFI Awards, and I can't think of a more deserving recipient {sorry, 'Kenny'... }.The way in which the narrative of 'Ten Canoes' is structured is very clever, cutting between two time periods as though the narrator/storyteller (David Gulpilil) is simply passing on the ancestral history as his people have done for hundreds of generations and thousands of years. The more recent of the segments, and I use the term loosely, is filmed in black-and-white to evoke the atmosphere of the indigenous photographs taken by explorers in the early twentieth century {the name of the film itself is derived from a photograph of ten canoeists poling across the Arafura Swamp, taken by anthropologist Donald Thomson in 1936}. This segment is told in a straightforward, documentary-like manner, as a wizened Aborigine leader finds out that his younger brother, Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil), covets the youngest of his three wives. During a coming-of-age, goose-hunting trip, the older brother tells Dayindi a story to teach him the consequences of jealousy. This story-within-a-story takes place years and years earlier still, not too long after the The Dreamtime, during which the patterns of life were laid down, and is presented to us in vibrant colour, making full use of the beautiful Northern Territory wilderness.This earlier tale recites the story of another young Aborigine, Yeeralparil (Jamie Gulpilil), who also desires the youngest of his older brother's three wives. This older brother, Ridjimiraril (Crusoe Kurddal, who speaks the Gunwinggu language for the film's entirety), is a brave and noble warrior, but demonstrates a lack of patience when his second wife goes missing, presumably kidnapped by a neighbouring tribe. While the black-and-white segments of the film have the tone of a historical documentary, the colour narrative has the fantastical mysticism of an old Dreamtime story, particularly evident in the Makaratta ("spear-throwing") ritual, and the Death Dance. Even though all the characters speak in their native language, there's also a surprising amount of humour to be found. The characters frequently immerse themselves in idle chit-chat and make jokes about flatulence and sex, suddenly bridging the thousand-year gap between ourselves and these ancient people, as we realise that perhaps we're not as dissimilar from these tribes as we had initially thought. In addition, the fat and lazy warrior with an addiction to honey (Richard Birrinbirrin) was absolutely hilarious.'Ten Canoes' tells a story with a simple moral, but it's the way the story is told that is singularly unique. Many have labelled the film as being particularly challenging, but I'm afraid I don't see what might be so difficult about it: though it is undoubtedly like nothing we have seen before, the two respective narratives are genuinely interesting and the characters are likable and relatable. One of the film's major themes concerns the circle of life – each human begins his existence as a small fish lurking in the waterhole, and, following his death, he will return to the exact body of water from which he was taken. Likewise, each character in the film follows a cycle of his own. Rather than rushing into drastic actions and disturbing the balance, one must always be patient, for life will always follow a full-circle. And be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.

Redcitykev The first thing to say about this film is it is different! In fact, I can not think of another film that is comparable to this, I guess the closest you can get for Western audiences is Japenese cinema of the '50's/'60's - "Woman of the Dunes", "Rashomon" etc, but even then they are quite conventional in there narratives - certainly when compared to this! But being different is no bad thing, in fact it was quite refreshing to watch a film that offers a view of the world so radically different from a Western point-of-view. To paraphrase the narrator, "this is our story, it may not be the same as yours, but it is ours...".To relate the basic structure of the film is, in its self, difficult, because you are watching a story told by the narrator about a story being told by a group of Aboriginal tribesmen about their ancestors.The third strand of this structure - the story of the ancestors - is the main focus of the film, and within that there are some stunning moments. Without wishing to give too much away there is a death scene which is unlike anything you have ever witnessed in an American, British or European movie. The dignity of death and the releasing of the spirit is very moving, and a true insight into the way of death of a totally alien culture.This is a film about ghosts, but features no actual ghosts. It is also a film about morality, but features a morality far removed from that of Western sensibilities. Finally it is a film about a man's place in the world, one in which women are... Well, you will just have to watch the film to discover the role women play in this society, because to explain it here would mean revealing too much of the narrative! If you are looking for a 'Saturday night/popcorn treat' then this is not the film for you, but if you want film-making that shows real depth and intelligence, something completely different, then give this a view, I don't think you will be disappointed.In closing, a quick word about the look of the film. The photography is superb, and the use of colour most interesting. Also this is a film in which sound plays a hugely important part, and it should be watched in total silence in order to fully appreciate how sound can be used in a subtle manner.

swillsqueal None of the people who play roles in "Ten Canoes" are professional actors. Well, maybe one. In this way, Rolf de Heer's approach reminds me of Pier Paolo Pasolini's, especially in "The Gospel According to St. Matthew". "Ten Canoes" begins. Hear the insects, the birds? Of course, you do. You are literally over Arnhem Land in what is now the northern part of Australia--nearest big city, Darwin. You seem to fly, maybe like a spirit from the tribal waterhole. We all begin in a waterhole, well maybe not all. You will see it soon, if you see "Ten Canoes". The story goes that before you are born, you may ask your father who your mother will be. When you die, your soul returns to the waterhole and there you wait to ask your next father the same question.Spirits are everywhere, in everything. Animism, you say. Maybe yes, maybe no. In any event, this is a story within a story, wrapped in another story. The narrator tells of the time when a younger brother wanted to get married, but all the women in the clan were already taken. His older brother had three wives. The younger brother lusted after the youngest wife of his older brother. Perhaps, his older brother was not able to satisfy all three of his wives.The narrator lives in the present. He is telling the story of the younger brother, who in reality, as an actor in this film, is his own son. Yes, the son is playing the narrator's ancestor. And why not? He plays his own ancestor in the story which his older brother tells him about a time very, very long before, when the people were different, yet acted the same and a younger brother coveted one of his older brother's wives. Are you confused? Don't be. You'll be fine. The older brother tells this story, a tale set in the deepest past. He tells it to his younger brother because he knows about his brother's lusts. He's actually been told by the younger brother that he needs a wife and that that wife should be the older brother's younger wife. The older brother tells this story as the brothers and others in their very extended family engage in a hunt for geese and goose eggs in the swamp. They need canoes for this expedition and in the ways which have been passed down by ancestors, they construct ten of them made from tree bark. This is a secret, you'll love to watch.The contemporary narrator lays this all out for you and even tells you about "the cross river mob". His language is a bit different. He is of the present. He has been living amongst European settlers. The tales told by him have taken place long before any European landed in Australia, long before the Dutch touched the beaches of Western Australia in the early 17th Century. Yes, long ago, but still close enough to see.The tales are told of a time very much unlike our own. It was a time and place where humans lived in communities without private ownership of Nature, without money, without rents, without wages, without a State, without classes. It was a very different time. Not a wholly bad time nor a wholly good time. This was just a very different time, a time and place where different things mattered to people and where people mattered more than things. It was a time when what you did with others was all shared more or less equally and what you did for yourself was yours, if you wanted it that way. Women are seen gathering nuts together for the tribe. Men are seen hunting geese for the tribe and sleeping on hastily constructed platforms in trees, with fires going all night to repel the mosquitoes. Children run free and, in fact, belong to all. The sense of time is not one of clocks. It is long. It is without meaning except perhaps as a river flow has meaning.If you want to experience this kind of time and place, I urge you to see "Ten Canoes". It's an experience in story telling which you won't forget soon. It has humour, beauty, life, love, death and joy. It is a story about when dreams come true....he, he...

mzeilik "Ten Canoes" tells three stories: That of the storyteller himself, that the of hunt for geese and their eggs, and that of the ancestors -- especially their troubles and the consequences of their actions and relationship to the law. Midway through the second story, which bookends the mythical one, that interior storyteller (Elder Brother) states that Younger Brother is beginning to learn a lesson from the telling itself -- patience. Such patience is also required of the viewer, for the pace and structure of both the "today" story and the "mythical" have their an organic unfolding (metaphor: a growing tree) that is quite unlike that of most contemporary Hollywood movies, with their fast call to conflict and continuous conflict.I was struck by the transition of "today's" story from color to black and white as the mythical story is told, the showing of the mythical tale in color (which helped to separate it from the today story), and the dissolve to color in today time as the mythical telling ends.Water is the core of the story, as the river, the swamp, and rain are the images that open and close the movie. The tale begins, ends, and begins again.