I'm torn between this movie. It's a wonderful story about a woman's journey of self discovery while facing head-on the challenges of the harsh Canadian landscape. Her tenacity and courage to cross the country was truly inspiring. The film was shot and edited into a great story, that could hold the viewer across the entire length of the film. For these bits, I'd say it's worthy of a 7, however....
As an indigenous person, I have mixed feelings about settlers who lean in on indigenous spirituality to the extent she does. But specifically about the film and her journey, she claims to be doing this journey as a way to connect with the land, all while she clumsily traverses the land leaving behind a trail of garbage (multiple tents lost). How can a person who says they care for the land be so ill prepared to experience it, and to lose multiple tents? Nothing can be more colonial to the land than leaving things behind for the land to deal with, which in the case of her tents could be thousands of years.
Also, in true settler fashion, she has zero care for some of the indigenous languages, as she butchers and mispronounces many words. Listening to her pronounce the name of her canoe was like a knife in my ears every time she mentioned it. It's pronounced gwee-moo btw.
So while she tries to put a wrapper of reconciliation on her journey, her crossing the country was more akin to the original settlers: Having little regard for the land, the culture of the original inhabitants, and leaving behind a trail of destruction that will take a millennium to repair.
The film itself is an oxymoron, and for that it drops from a solid 7 to a 4. My only hope, this film doesn't inspire more people to follow in her steps.
Meskie (sorry), I don't want to sound like a hater... I'm just pointing out some of the colonial traits in this film, that even a person who appears to be sympathetic of indigenous people and culture still has. Decolonizing is not easy, and I hope she continues on that journey and learns and grows from it.
