orbit991 I first watched this film in the early nineties. It's always a good sign when a movie can suck you into something new. This is a unique story in a ocean of sequels and copies. It's not just a film about time travel, in fact the time travel takes a back seat to the psychology of a medieval man. This film is about a small medieval village during a time of the plague and a boy who seems to have an answer on how to keep this plague at bay. It's a world filled with superstitions and struggle, even when the travelers end up in the modern era, all their motivations are much the same. It is a gritty film, for some it may be a bit to dark, but it is a truly fascinating and original study.

boingo_the_clown I just saw "The Navigator" for the first time last night, and I must say that it is a very well done film. Unlike Hollywood films, the medieval characters are not simply modern men in medieval garb, nor are they treated as ignorant buffoons. The portrayal of the characters is highly believable.They see everything with religious and medieval attitudes, and try to cope with the nightmare world of a modern city as best they can, in order to complete their pilgrimage / quest. This is perhaps the greatest strength of the film, as it helps the viewer to successfully suspend his disbelief and identify with the characters.It may be subtle, but there is also medieval symbolism used in the movie.There are some things in the movie that don't quite make sense, like the complete willingness for the foundry workers to help a group of people who should for the most part seem insane to anyone not knowing they are actually from the fourteenth century, or the apparent pathological need for every car driver in the movie to try to run the characters down, without any attempt to swerve, stop, or otherwise avoid them. These, however, are merely nit picking trifles, when placed in the context of the full story.It is not the greatest movie I have seen, but I would definitely say that it is worth a look. It's respect for and realistic depiction of it's medieval characters is a strength that really helps to hold the movie together.I give it a thumbs up.

Claudio Carvalho On the Fourteenth Century, a small community is threatened by the black plague, which is soiling Europe. Griffin (Hamish McFarlane) is an eight years boy with visions. These visions show the salvation for his people: digging a hole to center of the earth and putting a cross on the top of a church. Griffin, his brother Connor and some locals starts their quest that brings them to the Twentieth Century. This is indeed a weird movie. Only yesterday I decided to watch it, and I do not dare to say that I liked or disliked it. First, because although being a very strange film, it is also very original. The black & white for the scenes of the dark Middle Ages and the colored ones for the present days is a technique very unusual. Second, the plot is totally unpredictable, with no clichés. And last but not the least, the unknown cast has a great performance. My vote is six.

fes_net I wish I could have a few minutes to hear Vincent Ward's take on the marketing of the movie, because I never have seen anything so mis-marketed. I could see some US film distributor scratching his head and saying, "gee? how are we going to make this dreary arty movie about the black plague appeal to the lowest common denominator of the US market?", "Ok, let's slap sci-fi and time travel on it..."Navigator is a beautifully filmed, well acted, impressive movie that (hear this!) has nothing to do with time-travel, or "monks dodging 20th century stuff"...it is an allegory! (look that up). What Mr. Ward does is, rather than rely on expensive and silly special effects to spice up fantasy dream sequences, simply juxtaposes 20th century settings with the 14th century time frame of the film to give life to a boy's fantastic visions, and story told to give hope and entertain the desperate people of his village...his visions, done in color and film with the 20th century as it backdrop is as fantastic to the people of his village, as if someone from the 14th century actually did travel through time. With premonitions of the arrival of the plague to his village (which turn out to be heeded), the villagers of a winter bound poor community hover in fear and look for any omen good or bad to give them some sign of what is coming. With a fantastic narration of a quest (ala the holy grail) to mount a spire on a church in a faraway land, that if done before sunrise would save the village, a boy describes his fantasy which is shown to us, complete with sea monsters and dragons (all represented by 20th century contrivances).For those seeking real time travel, stick to the true sci-fi, you will be disappointed...For those interested in seeing a dark, moving tale of the desperation that must have been felt by the people who lived through the plague without understanding what it really was...a tale where the fantastic is really our wonderfully mundane world...check this out.