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Ten Canoes
Palm Pictures


7.4

based on 20 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Djigirr, Peter Minygululu, Frances Djulibing, David Gulpilil, and Johnny Buniyira

The first feature film to be shot entirely in Aboriginal language (predominantly Ganalbingu), Ten Canoes is set both in the past (centuries ago, before the coming of white people to Australia) and in the Ganalbingu mythical past.

GENRE(S):	Adventure \| Comedy \| Drama \| War
WRITTEN BY:	Rolf de Heer
DIRECTED BY:	Rolf de Heer Peter Djigirr
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: June 1, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color / B/W
ORIGIN:	Australia
LANGUAGE(S):	Aboriginal / English (with English subtitles)

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Variety Richard Kuipers

Anthropology and entertainment are marvelously married in Rolf de Heer's Ten Canoes. The first feature in an Australian Aboriginal language feels authentic to the core as it tells a cautionary tale set 1,000 years ago.

100

Village Voice Scott Foundas

To watch this movie (shot in breathtaking widescreen by cinematographer Ian Jones) is to enter into a whole new language of symbols and meaning, the likes of which I have rarely encountered in cinema outside of the African tribal films of Ousmane Sembene.

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

A marvel of warm collaboration and shared jokes about husbands and wives, shot both in dreamscape color and pristine black and white.

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Its mixture of wisdom and whimsy -- exemplified by the movie's unnamed and occasionally cheeky narrator -- makes this Australian movie feel as timeless as it is timely. And instead of feeling dutifully cultural as we immerse ourselves in this story, we're genuinely intrigued, touched and even amused.

The Hollywood Reporter Megan Lehmann

In telling this ancient story with style and humor, de Heer and his Aboriginal collaborators promote cultural understanding and acceptance by stealth, if you will.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

There is nothing more enthralling than a good yarn, and Ten Canoes interweaves two versions of the same story, one filmed in black and white and set a thousand years ago, and an even older one, filmed in color and set in a mythic, prehistoric past.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Like a lot of folk tales, Ten Canoes peters out into something more prosaic than profound, but it flows like water, and has a deceptively gentle pull that proves hard to escape.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Despite dancing between a story and a story within a story, something seems simple and effortless about Ten Canoes. Director Rolf de Heer and his all-Yolngu cast offer a take on tribal life that's warm, funny and powerfully alive.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

A top-flight example of cinematic storytelling, thanks in large part to the unusual narration, spoken in English by David Gulpilil.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Inspired by anthropologist Donald Thomson's early-20th-century photographs, this collaboration between a Western filmmaker and the native people of Ramingining is an impressive achievement of ethnographic cinema.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

It's a fascinating immersion within a highly ritualized Stone Age oral culture that, at least according to tradition, existed almost unchanged for thousands of years before the European arrival.

Empire Sam Toy

Ten Canoes is a rare and valuable movie, providing fascinating insight into another culture without pandering or being stuffy. Seek it out -- swim if you have to.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Ten Canoes is nonetheless audacious and impressive, but challenging work, requiring steadfast concentration.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Funny, perceptive, bawdy, tragic and philosophical, pretty much everything a viewer -- or a listener -- could ask for.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A rollicking good story set a millennium ago among Australian aborigines, Ten Canoes is one of those cultural-building exercises that genuinely entertains.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Offers another way into these complex indigenous people, through storytelling as haunting as their artwork.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Jokes about flatulence, human excrement and the size of someone's manhood also come into play, but they never cheapen this lush and enjoyable film.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

Ten Canoes is as much a work of anthropology as it is a narrative, and its true strength lies in its exploration of ancient aboriginal hunting practices, death rituals, and legal traditions.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The humor in de Heer's script is mostly anatomical, and the performances of the nonpro cast are stiffer than bark. But you've never seen anything like it.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's a thriller that refuses to thrill. It taunts us with resolution and mysteries, then slaps our hand for reaching out for a conclusion.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tj gave it a6:
The film is beautifully shot, but it is really quite wooden. The voiceover narration combined with quite stiff performances makes the whole thing feel like a half-hearted reenactment...it never comes to life. There is little attempt to penetrate into the real lives and personalities of the characters. We have to be content to peer at their exotic faces and the exotic setting. The self-conscious references to the "story" are supposed to sound spontaneous, but are as stiff and staged as everything else. And, it isn't much of a story. I can't help wondering if reviewers would be as tolerant of the wooden posing of the characters if it wasn't about aboriginal people. There just isn't much to this film. The NY Times review compares it to the Inuit film "The Fast Runner." All I can say is if you liked this film, see "The Fast Runner" because it's a much better film.

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Ten Canoes Palm Pictures

Ten Canoes
Palm Pictures