moviesleuth2 Having a movie with very little dialogue is a risky proposition. In my opinion, it almost never works. "Far North" is a case in point. This could have been a devastating and disturbing tragedy, but the way it's presented, it's boring and tedious.A woman named Saiva (Michelle Yeoh) lives with her daughter, Anja (Michelle Krusiec) outside of human contact. Because of past experiences, Saiva avoids other people like the plague. Then an outsider, Loki (Sean Bean) comes into their midst, which changes the status quo.The acting is not the problem, nor is the cinematography (which is stunning). Yeoh and Bean are well-known faces (both have been in Bond movies) and are capable actors. But there is little they can do with such limited material. Michelle Krusiec may not be as well known as her co-stars, but she matches them.The problem with the film is that with almost no dialogue, it's too simple, and with the resulting minimal character development, it quickly becomes a sleep-inducer.I will say that the ending is a great twist, but not even that can make up for the 80 minutes of tedium that come before it.

nathan-yeo Life in the barren north, is cruel and harsh, and so are the people that eek out an existence in this frozen hell-hole. Upon looking at the cover with MIchelle YEOH (luv-her) and Sean BEAN, and a young Asian actress named Michelle, I couldn't wait for the sex scene with the three of them. Bodies wrapped as one trying to fight off the cold. Well what does everybody want but no-one likes. Getting exactly what you want. I got it alright and wished i never saw it. Anyhoo the movie starts off with the lead character killing one of her sled dogs to make a hearty beefy stew. You then see the harsh existence and life out there. they pass a work camp. Finally an escapee from the work camp or deserter arrives. He brings with him the marvels of the modern world and jealously as the two pine for his affection. In the end your left speechless and no anyone who lives up there has to be crazy.

more-d I agree with Jonathan Dore, Asif Kapadia must better learn History! I'm still don't understand what's place there and what time period? Outboard motor has design 50's-70's , soldiers sometime speaks on Russian's, sometime not, and wear not Russian uniform, also have name not Russian(only one Andrei) And they so bad guys, do awful things, wtf? Who's these guys?What is this place? What Indian man do there? But story interesting, nice place, good actors, i'm lived in north Russia, i like these movies.

candyflossvictim I thought that Far North really reflected traits that all humans hold, however deeply we may bury them. Greed, survival and the need to be loved.When Saiva, Michelle Yeoh, was born her tribe shaman told her mother that she would grow to be evil and that everyone close to her would die. So as soon as she is old enough she is banished to travel and live alone. But she soon meets a tribe when they are rounding up the caribou and she becomes close to one man in particular.Then the Russians invade their land and she comes back from a short trip to discover soldiers have killed the whole tribe, except her man friend and a baby. They are still there, though, and they rape her after slitting the man's throat. She escapes with the baby, though we are never sure whether it is her daughter or someone else's. We cannot be sure of the time frame in these flashbacks, as Kapadia has left this open to interpretation.I'm not sure whether this is good or bad, good in the sense that spectators can defend Saiva's actions at the end if they so wish or bad because it requires less effort to speculate on facts rather than assumptions.The ending itself is truly disturbing, it kept me thinking and reflecting for days on end. 'Disturbing' was the word I used to describe it to others, quickly adding that this was a good film. I did enjoy it; the scenery itself was almost overwhelmingly beautiful and was matched in its beauty by the cinematography. The performance from Yeoh was lovely to watch, and in my opinion her character was easy to make an allegiance with, as I could understand her reasons for doing what she did at the end.Her performance was strongly supported by Michelle Krusiec and Sean Bean, although it could perhaps be said that Krusiec made her character a bit too ahead of her time. And judging by the ending for Mr. Bean, I think I can safely assume that he'll be staying in climates above 0 degrees Celsius for quite sometime...wearing as many layers as possible.