For Franklin buffs there is a lot of interesting material here, although it is presented in an odd way. It's a documentary of a making of a dramatic retelling of John Rae's search for the lost expedition. Unique and kind of clever but isn't successful in its delivery.
While overall it is strangely presented, at times self-absorbed and seems to lose focus, it is worth watching for the scenes where the Inuit man visits England. In particular, there are some very heated and upsetting scenes where experts contest the fate of the expedition with the Inuit man. It's this climax that is worth watching this film for. And the discussion on Dickens was very interesting too.
It's a bit of a mess, poorly shot and gets itself distracted. But it is still an interesting mess, particularly if you have a curiosity for the subject matter.
As an aside, I'd love to know why they used so much of the rehearsal and script reading shots instead of the actual dramatisation they filmed. It was quirky but you wonder what the point of the dramatisation was when they used so little of it. Was this always the plan? Or did they realise the making of was more interesting than the dramatisation? Perhaps they couldn't decide, so they did both?
While overall it is strangely presented, at times self-absorbed and seems to lose focus, it is worth watching for the scenes where the Inuit man visits England. In particular, there are some very heated and upsetting scenes where experts contest the fate of the expedition with the Inuit man. It's this climax that is worth watching this film for. And the discussion on Dickens was very interesting too.
It's a bit of a mess, poorly shot and gets itself distracted. But it is still an interesting mess, particularly if you have a curiosity for the subject matter.
As an aside, I'd love to know why they used so much of the rehearsal and script reading shots instead of the actual dramatisation they filmed. It was quirky but you wonder what the point of the dramatisation was when they used so little of it. Was this always the plan? Or did they realise the making of was more interesting than the dramatisation? Perhaps they couldn't decide, so they did both?