Ten Canoes Critic Reviews

Its mixture of wisdom and whimsy -- exemplified by the movie's unnamed and occasionally cheeky narrator -- makes this Australian movie feel as timeless as it is timely. And instead of feeling dutifully cultural as we immerse ourselves in this story, we're genuinely intrigued, touched and even amused.Read the full review

Anthropology and entertainment are marvelously married in Rolf de Heer's Ten Canoes. The first feature in an Australian Aboriginal language feels authentic to the core as it tells a cautionary tale set 1,000 years ago.Read the full review

A marvel of warm collaboration and shared jokes about husbands and wives, shot both in dreamscape color and pristine black and white.Read the full review

In telling this ancient story with style and humor, de Heer and his Aboriginal collaborators promote cultural understanding and acceptance by stealth, if you will.Read the full review

There is nothing more enthralling than a good yarn, and Ten Canoes interweaves two versions of the same story, one filmed in black and white and set a thousand years ago, and an even older one, filmed in color and set in a mythic, prehistoric past.Read the full review

Like a lot of folk tales, Ten Canoes peters out into something more prosaic than profound, but it flows like water, and has a deceptively gentle pull that proves hard to escape.Read the full review

Ten Canoes is nonetheless audacious and impressive, but challenging work, requiring steadfast concentration.Read the full review

Offers another way into these complex indigenous people, through storytelling as haunting as their artwork.Read the full review