Ofelaš, 1987 (opening credits)

[@owenmcgee8496]

"that" thought/feeling...this could be the ultimate "frontier" movie, to me, hits harder than any western. state of nature is a lot more difficult to survive in than we may think, sitting behind our computer screens...a folktale of how a young boy is destined to become a druid and chieftain by fate...the sort of story that was probably told in rural societies for thousands of years around a fireplace, yet brought to life on celluloid in 1987 without a hint of sentiment. thumbs up to that. though I don't know how often I'd endure watching the film, again...when you're "that" age, you think facing off Tchudes-types is "something you may have to do some day"....when you're "this" age, you understand what the reindeer tale means better...and just hope that your chronic lack of exercise isn't a sign that the 2nd hand of your life is far more advanced than you thought...gotta admire the "old fella" for wrestling the bear and self-sacrificing to save the kid...and notice how the Tchude guy kills him (hand over mouth, not just the knife), intentionally in an upside-cross-sadist-kinda-of-way, to mock the ofelas' belief....pure hatred of "good"...as if to cut him off from the circle of life...the act of a natural-born soldier, not a natural-born chieftain...lucky we are not to be medievalists...and "don't you know", "old" in a state of nature is about 40 (if you're lucky)

[@bruanlokisson8615]

How you got any of that from this movie is surprising to me, first the concept of good vs evil is a southern thing, in the north it was chaos vs order. Druids are celts, there were no chieftains among the Saami, he was a Noadi, or Shaman. Also, he covered his mouth so he would not cry out and then slit his throat in a very HUMANE way. In any case you are projecting all kinds of issues that have nothing to do with the legend or the Saami people.

[@owenmcgee8496]

thanks for your comment. yes, they're all personal impressions. i meant druid as a generic term for a shaman type, who'd often double as a community leader, like a chieftain. The key scene in this film to me is when the pathfinder appears to the boy and explains it is through breathing that all life is interconnected and the Tchudes are like dead-men walking because they ignore this. The Tchude stops the pathfinder from breathing before killing him. That seemed to me like a deliberate reference to & mocking of his shamanic beliefs. I wouldn't see it as humane. But the most logical explanation of it is neither; namely, that the Tchudes promised the boy they would let the pathfinder live if he helped them. If they didn't cover his mouth, the boy would've heard his scream and known they'd killed him straight away and that he'd been betrayed the moment he turned his back. As it is, he discovers that betrayal only later, when he'd already led the Tchudes to the villagers. I still see the film like an ultimate frontier survival film. I don't know Saami culture, but I'm also from "the north" and this film could capture the historical imagination of anyone who'd heard tales of roman, viking or norman invasions against defenseless natives. the villagers are like sitting ducks because they are not of the warrior class; all they have is their pathfinder/shaman. that is their way of life; it's not that of warriors. maybe not a simple good or evil thing, but it's not far off. they fear the warriors like angels of death. any native populations facing incoming invaders with military technology would know the same. yet are the Tchudes supposed to be foreigners or natives that have simply abandoned a way of life? to me, that was not clear. but it seemed like they were ex-soldiers of a foreign military force who simply ravaged the land, killing native people with as little thought as if they were killing fowl@@bruanlokisson8615

[@stevetheduck1425]

Encountered this film almost by accident many years ago, a second-hand videotape. I am still haunted by it. 'Look up. What do you see?' 'Nothing'. 'Between you and the tent roof?' '...nothing.' Gets a hand put over his mouth and nose. 'What is it that is nothing but is between one breath and the next?! All of life and death! We all swim in the same air as all fish swim in the same water! The Tchudes have forgotten this!'

[@user-ui9du7ns4u]

You know that this song Mike Oldfield included in your album The Songs Of Distant Earth (1994) entitled: Prayer For The Earth (composed and performed by Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa)