North Fork - Jared Free

Although we viewed the film several weeks ago, I'd like to comment on Northfork. The film was an incridible movie to watch. The Montana landscape and scenery depicted in the movie were tremendous. Understanding the film was difficult, though.

The film depicts a small, Montana town, Northfork, that has been evacuated but for a few stubborn residents to make way for a hydroelectric dam that is set to flood the entire valley. Of the dozen or so residents who did not leave, most stayed behind for no particular reason at all. For them, there is a group of evacuators who make their rounds guiding those who have stayed behind to safety.

One of the holdouts, though, is different. Father Harlan, who runs the village orphanage, has stayed behind to tend to a young boy, Irwin, who was too sick to make the evacuation. The film essentially focuses on three stories; the story of the evacuators, which serves as comic relief in an otherwise very somber film, the story of Father Harlan and the earthbound Irwin, and lastly, the story of Irwin's spirit, as he prepares to make his own journey into death.

The movie is riddled with so much symbolism I have a difficult time determining what any of it means. The most frequent recurring image is a pair of angel wings, which one can determine symbolize the boy's inevitable position into the afterlife. In his unconscious state he's already accepted his fate, or already considers himself an angel. Or maybe that's what he knew he was all along; he was supposed to have always been in heaven, and his time here on earth was just a brief trial. Regardless, the most interesting image in the film was the mechanical/organic buffalo. This animal/machine appears in nearly all the boys dreams. It is very intimidating and threatening looking, however, it takes little or no notice of anyone else; namely the boy, who is the only person that seems to see the creature.

The film was beautiful, but very slow. I may have enjoyed it more if I understood what most of the symbolism meant.