Pathfinder [VHS]

This is the first film ever made in the Lapp language, and what a first film.

The film is set in a frozen Lapland a thousand years ago. It is a rights of passage movie about a sixteen year old boy who witnesses the massacre of his parents by vicious maurading raiders. The story is simple, in that it is about how the boy enlists the help of the neighbouring village in fleeing to the sea from these raiders and how eventually the boy gets his very justifiable revenge. Further the film is about cunning and betrayal with the boy being guided by a mythological reindeer.

The original film is in widescreen which sets off the severe landscape. I just hope that one day the film will be released on DVD.

This is the story of a 16-year-old boy 1,000 years ago who finds himself fighting alone against the killers of his mother, father and little sister. It's part epic legend on a small scale and part coming-of-age. Whatever you choose to call it, Pathfinder is an exciting and moving tale. The story is set in the northern-most reaches of what is now Scandinavia amongst the nomadic family groups of the Sami, who hunt and herd reindeer. The landscape is beautiful, but harsh and frigid. Aigin returns one day from a hunting trip to see the corpses of his parents and little sister being dumped in a frozen lake through a hole in the ice. They have been killed by the Tchudes, outlaws who prey on the Sami. Aigin is spotted but manages to escape with an arrow in his shoulder to a small family group several miles away. They treat his wound but immediately prepare to flee to the coast. They know the Tchudes are most likely tracking Aigin. The boy refuses to leave. He plans to stay and fight. "What would you do?" Aigin is asked. "Find them. Before they find us." "Find them," one man says. "We're not warriors!" "If they find us," Aigin says, "you know what will happen. We will have to fight. No one will be spared. Not even the children." And he's right. The Tchudes are outcasts, hard, experienced men who take what they want and slaughter everyone they catch. Three of the men decide to stay with him. There is a fight in the snow, with arrows against crossbows and axes. Aigin is captured. He may be brave, but he also is frightened. To save one of the men who has been his friend, he says he will be a pathfinder. He will show them through the icy passes in the mountains to the large encampment on the coast. His friend, of course, is slaughtered as soon as Aigin is out of sight.

From here we switch back and forth between the encampment, largely made up of women and children as the men have left for hunting, and the journey through the frigid, snow-swept passes. This 16-year-old boy is up against two dozen killers, led by an utterly ruthless and shrewd leader. Aigin is no match for any of them if it comes to a fight. All Aigin has is his wits and, as we come to realize, a determination to protect the encampment by destroying the Tchudes even if it means sacrificing his own life. This is played out against the feelings of some in the settlement that Aigin is bad luck, that he led the Tchudes to them earlier and may very well be leading them to the coast where they are now. The conclusion is brutal, redeeming and satisfying.

Pathfinder works so well, I think, because the story, which is a simple one, is treated in a straightforward, matter-of-fact manner. The emotions and motivations are simple and strong. The acting is plain and effective. Mikkel Gaup, the 19-year-old son of the film's director and writer, Nils Gaup, is a good-looking kid with blue eyes who comes across as exactly who he is playing, a capable young man who is brave and scared and determined. The feelings that start to show between Aigin and the young woman who treated his arrow wound are tentative and very low-key, and they're all the more touching because of that. This is a strong, affecting story with a little myth and legend-making woven in.

You may still be able to find a VHS version of the film. I found mine about ten years ago when a supermarket decided to get out of the VHS rental business and unloaded all their stock for 50 cents a tape. There is no DVD that I know of. Be aware that the 2007 film titled Pathfinder has no resemblance to this movie, even though Nils Gaup gets a credit for the 1987 screenplay.

Pathfinder [VHS] [1987]
This film is impossible to get hold of on DVD with English subtitles.Thanks to Amazon I found a VHS dubbed into English, and it saved my day, dubbing or not;-)
Only a few days after ordering, the film was in my mailbox. Good work:-)