rodrig58 Anthony Quinn, a giant among all actors. With a minimum of gestures, he creates a simple man character, a naive Eskimo, a character not quite easy to live. Another great role, a great Inuk, alongside Zampanò, Alexis Zorba, Paul Gauguin, Bombolini, Quasimodo, Attila, Barabbas and many others. Nicholas Ray, an exceptional director, who made masterpieces such as "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Johnny Guitar". Excellent Yôko Tani as the wife of Inuk, Asiak. A very young and hard-to-recognize Peter O'Toole in a small role. Natural landscapes in Greenland and Canada are amazing. A unique movie, absolutely to be seen and seen again. I say this now, being 59 years old, after I saw it three times at great intervals.

drrap This film is not without its merits. The second unit shot some really quite beautiful location footage in the Arctic, and the cinematography throughout is impressive. Anthony Quinn brings tremendous verve to the role, and there are several memorable turns by the supporting cast, particularly Peter O'Toole.But it's depressing to see how many people regard this as an accurate portrayal of Inuit culture. One hardly knows where to begin! The Inuit customs regarding "wife-sharing" are distorted (the idea that it would be a terrible insult not to accept such an offer is groundless), and the use of "laughter" as a euphemism for sex is merely an old Hollywood notion. Inuit mothers are not left until their mother's death to be told of common matters such as the importance of cutting a child's umbilical cord, and a grandmother, however infirm, would never be left out in the open to be eaten by a polar bear (a special igloo would instead be prepared, with important personal items, and then sealed up, after which the village would be moved). Most insulting of all is the notion that somehow Inuit would be unaware that babies are born without visible teeth!The inaccuracies are not merely cultural, but historical as well. There is simply no period of time when the Inuit (or other Arctic groups such as the Inighuit, Inupiat, or Yupik) would have been unfamiliar with firearms and yet exposed to 1960s-style rock music -- these events are anywhere from 75 to 100 years apart, depending on the region. Inuit who went to trading posts would never be mocked by other Inuit, or by traders, at a trading post -- trading was serious business -- and would never be sold a gun with zero ammunition. This is not to say that traders were always totally fair; the guns were often of inferior quality, and the addiction to a source of powder and shot, along with the switch to fur-bearing animals as a sort of cash crop, were indeed problems.The saddest thing of all is that, 27 years before "Savage Innocents," a far more accurate account of the disparities, tensions, and injustices between Inuit and traders and police was released by a major Hollywood studio -- this was 1933's "Eskimo," starring Ray Mala, a half- Inupiat Alaskan actor.Having nearly no Inuit in the cast at all is, despite comments to the contrary, a problem as well. Hollywood had cast Inuit as Inuit as early as 1911, and "Eskimo" enjoyed an almost all- Inuit cast. The fact that all of the principal photography was done on a sound stage decorated by people with no knowledge whatever of either Inuit or northern homes is a further issue.There's no question that "Savage Innocents" works hard to elicit sympathy with an "alien" culture -- the only problem is that this culture is almost entirely a fantasy.

Andres Salama This movie is based on a book called "Top of the World" by author Hans Ruesch. The book is not very well known today, but it is a very entertaining look at the life of the Eskimos and their view of life (reportedly, author Ruesch has never seen an Eskimo before writing the novel). Set during the time that western ways were encroaching into the Eskimos natural habitat, and spanning several generations, it has a main character, who gets into trouble with the law, becoming a fugitive, basically out of his ignorance of western customs (he killed a white man when he offended him by rejecting an invitation to lie in bed with his wife). I read it as a classroom assignment during high school, more than twenty years ago, and it is probable I would have never read the book if I wasn't assigned to do so. Likewise, the movie based on that novel is not terribly known either, though it is sometimes shown on television (at least in my country). It is a passable film, and the more interesting feature of it is that it has Anthony Quinn playing an Eskimo (how many characters of different ethnic backgrounds did Quinn play during his career?).

norma-19 I cant remember which year I saw this film but it was a very long time ago. It did however make quite an impression on me, i enjoyed the glimpse into the lives and traditions of the Eskimo's. and certain events have stayed in my mind all this time. For instance when the aged decided the time was right, they would just sit out on the ice one night, never to be seen again. Awesome. But it was such a long time ago I was thinking i must have imagined it for i have never heard of it since. The title stayed in my head though. Then i decided to look it up on the internet and am very glad to know that I wasn't alone in my regard.