I stumbled across this movie on TV, and its pace and photography somehow captivated me - to be honest - I spent most of the movie trying to determine if it was a documentary or a poorly acted film. Having researched it, I now understand its concept, using the characters to portray themselves, which is what had me "confused" during my first experience. This said, the movie makers deserve a lot of credit for literally weathering the severe climate of its location as well as for some stunning nature photography. I agree with some of the other comments that the use of non-actors to portray themselves in day to day situations often is awkward as their embarrassment can be sensed, however I doubt that its credibility would be the same if real actors would have been used. The movie portrays the harshness of life in the wild, and documents a lifestyle that is soon to be extinguished by the ever expanding modernization. That is clearly shown when the aging trapper friend is shown using a modern snowmobile, and the frequent references to the pending retirement of the "last trapper". Enjoy this film for what it is, particularly if you have young children and enjoy a break from the ever present "Hollywood" portrayal of real life adventurers.
12 Reviews
A naturally capturing movie
skysurfer-672-10355027 February 2010
I have been scanning through the available channels on a Saturday morning, and got captivated by some interesting scenes and an unusual atmosphere at a German speaking channel. The movie was in German, which I can not speak, even though, I found the pictures interesting, and started to watch the movie. I did not regret. I have read through the some previous reviews, and I understand, the dialogs were not perfect, as the actors were acting themselves. Without having understood the dialogs and the narrative, I still felt I was watching something authentic and credible. I think therefore this is a great movie, and I am grateful for the artists who provided me this excellent insight into a wonderful and hard environment and an extincting lifestyle.
Good film!
LaxFan9417 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is another great outdoor film where a modern-day Jeremiah Johnson lives with nature and all the hardships that go with it. But he doesn't mind them since he is at peace with himself and his surroundings. There was a sad moment when his first dog companion got hit! I cried so much when I saw that! What was so ironic after that was when his new dog companion wasn't really to his liking since it was more of sled dog than a pack dog. He preferred pack dogs more since they could carry goods on their backs whereas sled dogs were more for running. He already had more than enough sled dogs.
Anyways... this film earns an 8 out of 10 in my books.
Anyways... this film earns an 8 out of 10 in my books.
Simply beautiful
ak124328 October 2005
I stumbled upon this film one Friday evening zapping the channels on my sat-box, and it caught my eye. Figured it was kind of a documentary, and with "nothing better to do" in mind, I thought I would give it a try.
Some hour and a half later I sit in front of my TV, and don't regret my decision one bit. I feel many of todays films are so full of, pardon the expression, cr*p, but this film really gave me an enjoyable time, and such a peaceful feeling. Almost to the point I wanted to get my boots on and take a hike in the woods to get "closer to nature" :-)
I can highly recommend this film, especially for those who love nature as something more than a trip to the zoo or a hike through the city park.
Some hour and a half later I sit in front of my TV, and don't regret my decision one bit. I feel many of todays films are so full of, pardon the expression, cr*p, but this film really gave me an enjoyable time, and such a peaceful feeling. Almost to the point I wanted to get my boots on and take a hike in the woods to get "closer to nature" :-)
I can highly recommend this film, especially for those who love nature as something more than a trip to the zoo or a hike through the city park.
a great documentary
Bix-1022 December 2004
I have been invited to the "premiere" of Le Dernier Trappeur in Brussels, Belgium, as I happen to know the executive producer of this movie ... Director Nicolas Vanier has been interviewed in front of the room, mainly explaining the problems they had with the cold temperature there, they had to shoot with -50°C sometimes (*EDIT* : -58°F, sorry for bad conversion)! I tried to view the movie as objectively as possible, and honestly I haven't been disappointed.
This movie is a documentary, you have to know that. People in there "act", but terribly as they are *not* actors. Norman Winther -Northman Winter would have been more appropriate ;)- is a trapper, in the deep Yukon in Canada, and you as a spectator learn to know his tough life.
Wonderful landscapes, incredible views of that part of our earth I didn't know could be so beautiful, are in themselves entirely making the movie worthy. There is a message too : "in those northern lands, what man does, hunting, is a necessity : he takes samples, but doesn't ruin the nature. Without him, some species will swarm, other will disappear". I suppose it isn't 100% true, but hey the movie is supported by the WWF so I guess even if they try to justify the hunting, this cannot be so bad :)
One negative point though : you'll have some repetition, in the succession of scenes as well as in music, even if that one is very nice.
A great documentary, two thumbs up !
This movie is a documentary, you have to know that. People in there "act", but terribly as they are *not* actors. Norman Winther -Northman Winter would have been more appropriate ;)- is a trapper, in the deep Yukon in Canada, and you as a spectator learn to know his tough life.
Wonderful landscapes, incredible views of that part of our earth I didn't know could be so beautiful, are in themselves entirely making the movie worthy. There is a message too : "in those northern lands, what man does, hunting, is a necessity : he takes samples, but doesn't ruin the nature. Without him, some species will swarm, other will disappear". I suppose it isn't 100% true, but hey the movie is supported by the WWF so I guess even if they try to justify the hunting, this cannot be so bad :)
One negative point though : you'll have some repetition, in the succession of scenes as well as in music, even if that one is very nice.
A great documentary, two thumbs up !
Nonviolent portrait of violence
fechy22 February 2005
Warning: Spoilers
An excellent film. After having caught on - it took me a while, up to the middle of it - I leaned back and let the sumptuous landscapes overwhelm me. In the rapidly evolving 'documentary' genre, director and explorer Nicolas Vanier's film inaugurates a new variant which we could tentatively call "self-fiction".
As one would expect from an authentic trapper and his wife, dialogue is sparse. At times, the protagonists' embarrassment before the camera is palpable. Many scenes involving the couple seem posed, and the main incident involving Norman's sled breaking through the ice, (the re-enactment of what may or may not be a true episode) is not convincing. Voice-over representing the inner voice is omnipresent. One is left to wonder whether excellent actors would not have played Norman and May Loo more convincingly than they themselves. The documentary character of the movie might have remained partly intact, the director having resorted to constructs several times. Even so, the narrative arc remains fairly shallow.
This is a movie without apparent violence. Yet violence is subliminally present: it is, after all, the violence of the logging companies against nature's treasures which trigger the film's central action, Norman's move to less dis-equilibrated territory. One strongly senses the violence of advancing, all-devouring modern society. This film could not be more different from the 'classic' trapper movies like Jeremiah Johnson' .
For having succeeded with this nonviolent portrait of violence, and for having dared the climate and returned with such magnificent photography, Le Dernier Trappeur deserves 8/10.
As one would expect from an authentic trapper and his wife, dialogue is sparse. At times, the protagonists' embarrassment before the camera is palpable. Many scenes involving the couple seem posed, and the main incident involving Norman's sled breaking through the ice, (the re-enactment of what may or may not be a true episode) is not convincing. Voice-over representing the inner voice is omnipresent. One is left to wonder whether excellent actors would not have played Norman and May Loo more convincingly than they themselves. The documentary character of the movie might have remained partly intact, the director having resorted to constructs several times. Even so, the narrative arc remains fairly shallow.
This is a movie without apparent violence. Yet violence is subliminally present: it is, after all, the violence of the logging companies against nature's treasures which trigger the film's central action, Norman's move to less dis-equilibrated territory. One strongly senses the violence of advancing, all-devouring modern society. This film could not be more different from the 'classic' trapper movies like Jeremiah Johnson' .
For having succeeded with this nonviolent portrait of violence, and for having dared the climate and returned with such magnificent photography, Le Dernier Trappeur deserves 8/10.
A True Art !
alexopoulosanastasios17 November 2018
Many here complain for the bad acting. This is Not a Hollywood film made in a Studio..
Real Nature , Real Weather conditions , Real People, an unbelievable photography and amazing soundtrack!
No CGI, No nonless talkings. What do you need more??
Beautiful: it shows the nature. Warning to humanity: if you cannot farm it - do not kill it
youAreCrazyDude12 March 2011
While many viewers found the film beautiful and made them love nature, it also should be a warning to us all if our children to see this disappearing beauty. Here is why. We depend on nature and animals to survive. Pollution, eating species into extinction and massacre of environment happens on global scale: sacred and very needed by life on Earth trees are being massacred by human predator. Gold mining, illegal tree cutting, illegal ranching in Amazon already destroyed a lot of sacred trees. Animals' habitat is disappearing with exponential (unbounded) rate. Films: "AMAZON with Bruce Perry", "The End of the Line (2009)". Most vicious predator (human) must learn to stop destroying its own environment. (Aside: the human is most vicious predator because it kills for sports.) While most vicious predator propagates with exponential (unbounded) rate, the nature and animals disappear with exponential rate at the hand of most vicious predator. Most vicious predator must stop unbounded (exponential) reproduction: it leaves no space for healthy environment for most vicious predator and leaves no space for animals. CONSUMPTION is not "cool" anymore. Echo-systems sustain the economies. Economies do not sustain the echo-systems. Bottom-lines and corporations only destroy the nature, environment and animals. In the past, we hoped that our technology would help us to live better lives, but as of today, our technology (better traps, binoculars, nets, better sonars to track our prey, better guns, etc) only leads us to the SIXTH EXTINCTION of all life on the planet, at the hand of the human. If you cannot farm it - do not kill it.
Great Photography, Flat Storyline
kikopops9920 February 2012
I didn't know how to rate this film since the photography, landscapes, animals etc... were fabulous. However, the storyline was a pretty flat. The premise that trappers are needed to keep nature in balance is absurd. Nature does that all by itself without human intervention. It also bugged me that the trapper kept getting his dogs in deadly situations. I wondered how many sled dogs were actually injured in the making of this film.
I really liked the trapper's native wife and wish she had a bigger role in the film. She was a very interesting character, but she basically just step and fetched for the trapper all day long. The trapper had a gorgeous canoe, and great dogs too.
The film is basically about a bunch of old guys who don't want to leave the wilderness. However, judging by all the trouble they get into, I think it is high time they move to a retirement community with safe activities overlooking the mountains!
I really liked the trapper's native wife and wish she had a bigger role in the film. She was a very interesting character, but she basically just step and fetched for the trapper all day long. The trapper had a gorgeous canoe, and great dogs too.
The film is basically about a bunch of old guys who don't want to leave the wilderness. However, judging by all the trouble they get into, I think it is high time they move to a retirement community with safe activities overlooking the mountains!
Changes and Peril
hsilberstein-110 November 2008
I lately bought the DVD - the landscape is astoundingly filmed, the music is a little similar to the movie of JEREMIAH JOHNSON (the first lines of the music sound like stolen) but the behavior of Norman is sure sometimes very strange and "more than a little stupid" as to say for someone who spent a lifetime in the wild of Yukon: sledging over a lake that just has been frozen (!), pushing his sled up a steep hill..., sledging a crevice in deep snow..., trying to shoot an elk and not hitting it..., building a nest that Nebaska is trying to climb up and brakes down.... and most disturbing not listening to his fine subtle Nebaska Mary Loo....Anyway - Vanier has done a good job: he shows a periled area in the North which is vanishing not only by the loggers as well of climate change!
A must see for 100% pure nature lovers
oragex8 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
10/10 not necessarily for the quality, but for the rarity.
No cell phones in this movie. Far, far away from Hollywood productions, bath physically and artistically. If you are a Hollywood fan, don't even look at the trailer.
This movie is intended for people who love pure nature and perhaps the symbiosis that once could exist between man and nature in it's simplest forms. The movie subject in itself it truly simplistic, but in fact, that is not it's reason. This is just a view on truly virgin nature.
Downsides, being an artistic production, the director couldn't resist to the Postal Card look: all images and places are clearly a selection of the most beautiful coins in Alaska, which degrades somehow the raw approach to the subject. I wish the places weren't as 'perfect' looking.
For the rest of the movie as well as for it's main characters, the director remained honest to a fault. Thank you for depicting this type of existence and thumbs up for having the courage to stay truthful.
Also, dog lovers - especially Husky breed, will probably appreciate it too, although there are moments with dogs failing into the freezing river that may seem distressing.
No cell phones in this movie. Far, far away from Hollywood productions, bath physically and artistically. If you are a Hollywood fan, don't even look at the trailer.
This movie is intended for people who love pure nature and perhaps the symbiosis that once could exist between man and nature in it's simplest forms. The movie subject in itself it truly simplistic, but in fact, that is not it's reason. This is just a view on truly virgin nature.
Downsides, being an artistic production, the director couldn't resist to the Postal Card look: all images and places are clearly a selection of the most beautiful coins in Alaska, which degrades somehow the raw approach to the subject. I wish the places weren't as 'perfect' looking.
For the rest of the movie as well as for it's main characters, the director remained honest to a fault. Thank you for depicting this type of existence and thumbs up for having the courage to stay truthful.
Also, dog lovers - especially Husky breed, will probably appreciate it too, although there are moments with dogs failing into the freezing river that may seem distressing.
Stunning landscapes
kalatorul4 January 2011
Very beautiful landscapes, nicely filmed, good work of camera crew, and that's all.
Guys are fishing dead fishes.
The winters are so cold that even the breath has no steam.
After a "bath" in cold icy waters, Norman continues his travels as nothing was happened (second time).
Firstly the trapper complains about the involvement of man in nature, then after some times he states that without the involvement of the man in nature everything will be a desert.
He is assuming himself a quite messianic role.
Guys are fishing dead fishes.
The winters are so cold that even the breath has no steam.
After a "bath" in cold icy waters, Norman continues his travels as nothing was happened (second time).
Firstly the trapper complains about the involvement of man in nature, then after some times he states that without the involvement of the man in nature everything will be a desert.
He is assuming himself a quite messianic role.
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