Ten Canoes

Name: Ten Canoes
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy
Released: June 1, 2007
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 82

2007

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 20 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	Your Score
6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Palm Pictures | Release Date: June 1, 2007 | Unrated

Summary: 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.

Director: Peter Djigirr and Rolf de Heer

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Comedy

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 90 min

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Awards & Rankings

27	#27 Best Movie of 2007

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

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. Read full review

100

Lisa Schwarzbaum

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

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. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

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

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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User Reviews

Jun 4, 2007

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 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.… Expand

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