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Ten Canoes
Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    100
    A marvel of warm collaboration and shared jokes about husbands and wives, shot both in dreamscape color and pristine black and white.
  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    100
    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.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Richard Kuipers
    100
    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.
  4. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    100
    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.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Megan Lehmann
    90
    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.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    90
    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.
  7. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    83
    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.
  8. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    83
    A top-flight example of cinematic storytelling, thanks in large part to the unusual narration, spoken in English by David Gulpilil.
  9. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    83
    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.
  10. Empire
    Reviewed by: Sam Toy
    80
    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.
  11. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    80
    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.
  12. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    Ten Canoes is nonetheless audacious and impressive, but challenging work, requiring steadfast concentration.
  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    80
    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.
  14. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    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.
  15. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    75
    Offers another way into these complex indigenous people, through storytelling as haunting as their artwork.
  16. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    75
    Funny, perceptive, bawdy, tragic and philosophical, pretty much everything a viewer -- or a listener -- could ask for.
  17. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    A rollicking good story set a millennium ago among Australian aborigines, Ten Canoes is one of those cultural-building exercises that genuinely entertains.
  18. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Josh Rosenblatt
    67
    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.
  19. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    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.
  20. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    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.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Tj
    6
    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.… Full Review »
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