source: Falls Around Her

The reason I'm giving it a 2 and not a 1 is that I want to give the actors the benefit of the doubt, as I don't know whether they are doing a bad job or if it's just impossible to do a good job with the level of writing and directing present in the film. Too many scenes that don't make any sense or serve any purpose. Dialogue is really bad throughout the film but not quite bad enough that it's funny which only adds to the misery of watching this film. I only watched it because I was visiting my parents for my mother's birthday and it came on CBC. You can imagine my joy when they both fell asleep an hour into the movie so I could finally change the channel to something more interesting like the shopping channel. If you've got a bad case of insomnia this should be considered as a potential cure. If you want to watch a movie I would suggest you try just about anything else... Anything.

I'm afraid this film isn't one of Ms. Cardinal's best ones. I love Tina Keeper's character role here but Ms. Cardinal's role doesn't shine until the very ending when that prick manager of hers breaks into her home and tries to kill her. She did well to defend herself with all those booby traps she set up along with the glass jar she used to smash him over the head with. But I still don't understand why she left her career to begin with. She showed that she never wanted to go back to that again. But to me, the film never showed why she left. But whatever her reasons, they were justified. It was wrong for her manager to just break into her home like that. Anyway, Tantoo always does well in her films but this particular one isn't one of her best. That's why I give this a 6 out of 10.

I had put off seeing this because it looked slow. And it is. I watched it when ready. It's set at the pace of nature and reservation life or felt like it. The shots where nothing happening but life drew me in to Mary's quest to return to the land.

Pretty good story about returning home, but the late action seemed out of place. Not sure if some scenes were edited out later, but the big finale appeared to come from a different movie.

Yes, the first two thirds move pretty slowly, but it's relaxing. Like listening to npr on a sunday morning. Discussions betweent the ladies of the social group, when mary takes a break from her music career. Ice fishing. She says over and over that she just wants to retire and enjoy life in the country, with her family of first canadians. And of course, the protest at the mining property subplot, which kind of gets dropped. This film probably won't be for everyone. But it's very well done, if you have the patience. Then stuff really starts to happen in the last ten minutes. We were given hints earlier. Written and directed by darlene naponse, a canadian first nation herself. Very well done. The action and excitement fanatics probably won't find enough action, but i look forward to seeing more of her work.

Tantoo Cardinal is one of my favorite actors. She seems to have become First Nations version of Judi Densch. However, this film is so unbearable slow to start that it would be easy to give up on. I get it, Natives find a dichotomy living in two worlds and the main character leaves the fame and fortune to get back to her self. But really do we have to spend so much time watching her put fire in her stove, water trickling and falling snow. The best part for me was the women singing, beautiful. The last half suddenly became a political statement. At least she finally got a pet to keep her company in her isolation.

I usually enjoy quiet movies, but this one withholds ALL information. At 30 minutes in, I have NO idea why she decided to leave her successful career as a singer and go back to the reservation to live alone and avoid people as much as possible. There has been zero music in it. In the opener she sings a song that has 3 words in it. I'm patient, but now I'm horribly bored and, I don't care about her, because this film doesn't tell me anything. It's the most esoteric movie I watched in eons. I have to stop watching now because I am sooooooooo disengaged. And utterly disinterested. If I watch much longer (3 minutes), I'll start ripping away stars. Oh. I really wanted to like this!!!

Was lucky enough to catch this at Melbourne's Birrarangga Film Festival on its closing night. I also attended the Q+A with the director and main actor. There are so many wonderful layers to this film. It honestly contains so many beautiful multitudes. The world/safe space the main actor creates for herself to heal and process, the reserve/community she returns to, the "big city" she found her musical success and celebrity within. The land is its own character, and she rekindles her relationship with it, witnesses it coming under attack by miners who wrongfully claim ownership of the land while denying accountability for their harm to the land and its inhabitants. What I loved best is that this film deals with what is clearly a snapshot in the life of this particular indigenous woman, lovingly told by an indigenous woman director. In this film we see her dealing with multiple intersecting conflicts and discoveries, and though some conflicts are left unresolved and some questions remain vague and unanswered, you can appreciate how she overcomes and navigates the movie's main conflict. Her victory over that destructive force in her life, while other destructive forces still loom in the past and future, is realistic and worth celebrating. I didn't need to see every issue tied up neatly in a bow by the conclusion of the film. Life is rarely that neat, and that's what makes the protagonist so human. In life we only have so much time and so much power and so much control, and she executes what healing and help she can bring others, the land and herself with balance and dignity. That this film was helmed by an indigenous woman, telling indigenous stories, definitely shows. I can't wait to see more, more, more.

Lacks story, lacks emotion, lacks movement, lacks any semblance of acting. Never quite sure what the purpose is supposed to be. Lacks excitement and as a viewer my interest is lost as the minutes seem to slowly move toward the final scene.