Inuk

Happy is the teenager Inuk (Gaba Petersen) with his life in the Greenlandic capital Nuuk really not. His mother (Elisabeth Skade) has really crashed after the death of Inuk's father and her new husband is also making life difficult for the boy day by day. Since Inuk wants to spend as little time at home as possible, he is literally living on the streets of Nuuk and is in danger of going off the rails. To prevent this, the authorities send him to a youth home in the north of the country. Here, in the seclusion of Ummannaq, Inuk is supposed to be led back onto the right path. But although the home's director Aviaaja (Rebekka Jørgensen) tries hard, Inuk completely isolates himself from the other youths in the home as well. A joint trip with the local seal hunters should finally lure the boy out of his shell. In the process, Inuk meets the secretive polar bear hunter Ikuma (Ole Jørgen Hammeken), an encounter that will have far-reaching consequences for more than just the boy.

The Greenlandic youth drama Inuk also tackles, in a very matter-of-fact way, many of the widespread issues facing teenagers in Greenland in particular: An enormous unemployment, a high rate of alcoholism and suicide, desolation and lack of perspective especially in the cities. And of course, global warming, which is leaving its mark here and affecting people's lives, cannot be ignored. At the same time, however, the film is also a very personal drama of two, at first glance, very different people who, in the seclusion of the enchanting icy desert, are able to cast aside their inner seclusion and face their fears and their past and thus find a way into the future.

The boy's search for his place in life is embedded in a fascinating and, at times, dreamlike visual language. It is the discrepancy between the grey, soulless cities and the wild nature that gives the film its special charm. The problem, however, is that the story itself is told in a very carried and at times somewhat unwieldy manner and, detached from the imagery, is also quite ordinary and only partially captivating. While the subject matter should appeal to a youthful audience, the staging is at odds with that and in many moments eludes the viewing habits of young viewers. As a result, only a few film-interested youngsters, who are not only at home in mainstream cinema but also try their hand at more sophisticated programme cinema fare, will be able to get excited about the story of Inuk.

And so the audience that will open up to this award-winning drama will probably be mainly an adult one after all. But as long as they are able to get involved with the very sustained narrative and the acting of the actors, which can sometimes seem a little alienating to untrained viewers, they will be rewarded with a moving and beautifully filmed story, which in the end fortunately doesn't come across as undercooled as the landscape in which it is set. Unexciting arthouse cinema that may only appeal to a small niche audience, but is sure to make this an enthusiastic release. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp