Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady travel abroad to make a compelling, light-hearted documentary set in the Norwegian wilderness.
In the observational documentary "Folktales," Oscar-nominated documentary filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady ("Jesus Camp") revisit education and social context, a concept that informed their first collaboration, "The Boys of Baraka" in 2005. They follow a trio of teenagers who take a gap year at a Norwegian folk high school in Pasvik, located 480 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. The nine-month program, which teaches outdoor survival skills and dog sledding, as well as Norwegian language and culture, is open to teens from around the world, though it's never specified how students are selected, how many there are, or how much it costs to attend. What is clear is the importance of self-confidence and guidance that comes from acquiring these skills in the wilderness and successfully applying them.
With the epic, primitive beauty of its remote location, "Folktales" excels in its visual aesthetic, but its actual content is subpar, as the young characters aren't as well-rounded as one might wish, and the school experience isn't intense enough to generate real drama. However, audiences will likely respond to what constitutes the film's most dynamic part: the powerful bond that develops between the inexperienced students and the charismatic, energetic, and boisterous sled dogs as they face challenges together.
Helmers Ewing and Grady focus on three 19-year-old students who appear quite vulnerable, but are also willing to speak on camera. Among them is Hege, a young Norwegian woman from a small town, coming off a bad year in which her beloved father died during an argument. As the show begins, life seems chaotic for her, and she can barely bear to part with her smartphone and makeup. Eventually, she proves to be a good companion, with a talent for working with the dogs. Viewers can observe his academic progress as he finally appears without a phone, makeup, or nail polish.
Also featured is another Norwegian, the tall Bjørn Tore, who identifies as a geek and feels that others find him annoying. He confesses to having trouble making friends, but one of the most endearing aspects of the film is witnessing his growing friendship with Romain, an attractive but terribly anxious boy from the Netherlands. Plagued by negative thoughts, Romain's social anxiety led him to drop out of high school, and he hopes the Norwegian program will give him a chance to turn his life around. It's unclear whether the other students feel as disoriented as these three, but as the filmmakers show, the program clearly benefits its subjects.
For enthusiastic dog sledding instructors Iselin and Thor-Atle, the dogs, Siberian huskies from Russia, are always the key to awakening something within the students. The canines accept and love them just as they are. They help awaken students' mindsets, where patience and awareness are fundamental virtues. Sadly, it seems a missed opportunity that the film doesn't further develop the teachers as characters, as their encouragement and compassion are crucial to the students' development as they take their first steps in nature.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, while California is still battling record-breaking wildfires, scenes of students learning to build outdoor fires that spark and jump unpredictably are now played very differently than they were filmed. It's awkward that a discussion of what to do if a fire gets out of control isn't included.
Since popular high schools themselves teach Norse mythology, Ewing and Grady incorporate it into their visuals, particularly in the story of the three "Norns," or Fates, who weave a future at the foot of the Tree of Life. The repeated use of a towering tree wrapped in red thread, from which red ribbons hang, is beautiful, but becomes too repetitive.
Cameramen Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo and Tor Edvin Eliassen deserve praise for capturing the majesty of the Northern Lights and the thrilling, and sometimes dangerous, rhythm of a dog sled racing through low-lying forests. The sound team successfully emphasizes the unique soundscape of the cold, remote location, from the creaking of trees to the calls of Arctic birds and the panting of sled dogs.
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