larryjones814 I saw this film last year at the Chicago International Film Festival with Philip Kaufman and Prof. Annette Insdorf presenting and I was totally blown away. It is both a beautiful love story between a white man and an Inuit woman and a big, spectacular adventure film. There are some amazing scenes, one involving polar bear (this scene alone is amazing and worth seeing the film for) , seal hunting, walrus hunting, boating in the treacherous ice-floes, etc. The performances are excellent from Timothy Bottoms , Warren Oates, Louis Gosset, Jr. and the wonderful actors of the Inuit community. The film continually takes your breath away and has some of the most beautiful love scenes I've ever seen. It's apparently based on a true story of the first encounter of the Inuit with the Dog Children (us). The film has some heartbreaking scenes (which I won't discuss) and the acting by the untrained Inuit actors is truly spectacular. I can't recommend this film enough.

sddavis63 The movie has a rather cheap feeling as it opens with a shot of a masted schooner bobbing its way through the ocean, and then a shot of a paper map of North America that gradually narrows so that you know that the story about to be told takes place on Baffin Island in Northern Canada. To be honest, that's the type of technical wizardry I might have expected of a movie made in the 1930's, but not the 1970's. And, in fairness, that's a misleading feeling. This isn't in any way a cheap movie. Apparently filmed on location, it includes some breathtaking shots of the local scene which make one powerfully aware of the barren starkness of the Arctic landscape, and an interesting look at Inuit (or "Eskimo" as the movie calls them, in the language of the 70's) culture.The story revolves around three whalers from New England (played by Timothy Bottoms, Lou Gossett and Warren Oates) who are shipwrecked in the Arctic and taken in and taken care of by a local Inuit clan. All three have very different reactions to their experience. Daggett (Bottoms) is sympathetic and grateful to the Inuit and respectful to their culture, to the point at which he considers staying with them, Billy (Oates) is hostile to his benefactors and constantly trying to take advantage of them, and Portagee (Gossett) falls somewhere in between the two. I thought the first hour of this movie was quite fascinating, but in all honesty it became somewhat repetitive in the second hour and I found myself losing focus on it. It was rather obvious almost from the start how this was going to end up, and so there was no real suspense involved to keep me focused. Having said that, the most powerful scene in the movie is probably found in that second half, in which the three castaways find a way to make alcohol out of local berries, and share it with the Inuit, which mirrors one of the tragedies that occurred throughout North America as native culture was almost wiped out. The second half also contains the best line, coming from Sarkak (Simonie Kopapik), the clan leader, who realizes that having the three with them isn't good and puts it this way: "They sleep with our women and eat our food. What else are they good for?" The conclusion of the movie is no surprise to anyone, although I did feel sympathy that Daggett (who was sympathetic to the clan) shared the fate of his fellow castaways.The performances from Bottoms, Gossett and Oates were good, but the stars of the movie were really the Inuit themselves. I can't help thinking, though, that this may be one of the rare occasions when a movie might have been better had it been made for TV. With time cut out to make way for commercials, some of the repetitiveness of the second half might have been avoided. It's an interesting movie, but just didn't keep me glued to what was happening. Overall, it's a mediocre effort - not bad, but not great, either. 4/10

cariboolean have some respect for and knowledge of tribal cultures where the shamans have authority, the people are "tuned in" to the natural world, and "nature magic" is understood on a gut level by everyone from childhood onward. I saw this film many years ago and loved it; it's still excellent. If you like it, you may want to read "The Heart of the Hunter" by Laurens Van Der Post, a classic about the Bushmen in South Africa. This film will be of value to anyone who has someone in their family who's made a mess of his or her life because of alcohol. Grab the drinker and make him or her watch it and that person may get a sense for how destructive that behavior is. Anyone who wants to learn about the Bear Spirit will learn something here as well.

Marty Houser Looking back from the 21st century, it is obvious that from the moment Columbus set foot in the new world the indigenous peoples of the Americas were doomed. It is equally obvious to a thoughtful viewer from 2005 that a movie made in 1973 about three shipwrecked whalers who are rescued by a band of Inuit and the resulting culture clash is going to end in tragedy. I knew the conclusion of "The White Dawn" as soon as I read two sentences of it's description on Netflix.But we shouldn't really hold that against it. Because "The White Dawn" is a very good movie and I am shocked that more movie aficionados haven't heard of it. I never did, and I am a fan of Philip Kaufman and Timothy Bottoms and movies of the 70s, and I have an interest in the arctic. This movie seems to have been buried under a rock somewhere, despite fine performances all around, beautiful cinematography and direction, and fascinating subject matter in the Eskimos.Filmed on location on Baffin Island in what is now Nunavet, the Inuit territory of Northern Canada, "The White Dawn" portrays the story of the three whalers - Timothy Bottoms, Louis Gossett Jr, and Warren Oates as they live with a sympathetic and friendly Inuit band over the course of a year, and how ultimately the interaction of the two world views leads to tragedy. It is based on the novel of the same name by James Houston, who lived with the Inuit for many years and based his novel on stories handed down through the generations of an actual event of 1897. In a fine performance, Bottoms is sensitive and open to the Eskimo way of life, falling in love with the woman Neevee. On the other hand is arrogant and exploitive Oates, who comes to represent the worst of "civilized" man's attitudes towards the Eskimo. He is dramatically counterbalanced by the equally manipulative Inuit Shaman, who pronounces that the whalers are bringing evil to the band of Eskimos.While the ending might seem preordained, "The White Dawn" is full of texture as it examines the meeting of cultures. And beyond the story itself, it is full of vivid and powerful images of Eskimo life, presented with apparently absolute realism by the amateur (but very good) Inuit cast. The joys and sorrows of the native's communal life are conveyed as they travel and hunt through the seasons. The highlights of the movie include a seal hunt, later a more desperate walrus hunt, and a winter dance in a large igloo, featuring the strange and wonderful throat chanting of two Inuit girls.A note for animal lovers - according to the commentary track, while seals and walruses were killed in filming, they were only killed if they would have been killed anyway, and the slain animals were completely utilized for food and fur by the Inuit (who do still hunt and rely on seals). The polar bear used in filming was not injured in any way.If you are a fan of the cinema of the 70s or movies in general, and are willing to accept the grim nature of the story, I highly recommend "The White Dawn". Certainly it should gain a wider audience and not be forgotten.