The Last Trapper (2004)

Director: Nicolas Vanier

Synopsis: A trapper and his wife brave the harsh Yukon climate, treacherous landscape and dangerous wildlife in an attempt to live a life of solitude.

Review:

What can I say about this film, I enjoyed watching although it felt like a guilty pleasure.

The film sets out to be a documentary to show the life of a trapper over the winter season in the Canadian Yukon territory, using real-life trapper Norman Winther and his wife May Loo. However, because of it constructed narrative style and over dramatisation of individual events, mainly the sledge through the ice, I find it hard not to see it other that a poorly acted film that looks stunning.

The cinematography of the Candian wilderness is second to none, as we follow Norman on his daily routine through the winter living a life that has hardly changed in over 150 years we cannot fail to top drawn into the beauty of the scenes. However, the wooden performances of the mainly leads, which at times appears uncomfortable damages the documentary nature of the film. Reading further into the movie it seems much of the film is dramatised, an animal supply company provides the animals and the voices of Mary and Norman were also dubbed on afterwards by actors.

I find myself asking why the filmmaker choose this route; why did he not just make this a dramatised film based on the life of Norman, this would still have the amazing photography but not the “bad acting” or not stay with a straight documentary and avoid the contrived story. Either of these options would have created a far superior film to what we have in front of us which is best described as worthy effort.