Ten Canoes
Palm Pictures | Release Date: June 1, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyRichard Kuipers
Anthropology and entertainment are marvelously married in Rolf de Heer's Ten Canoes. The first feature in an Australian Aboriginal language feels authentic to the core as it tells a cautionary tale set 1,000 years ago. Read full review
100
Village VoiceScott Foundas
To watch this movie (shot in breathtaking widescreen by cinematographer Ian Jones) is to enter into a whole new language of symbols and meaning, the likes of which I have rarely encountered in cinema outside of the African tribal films of Ousmane Sembene. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A marvel of warm collaboration and shared jokes about husbands and wives, shot both in dreamscape color and pristine black and white. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Its mixture of wisdom and whimsy -- exemplified by the movie's unnamed and occasionally cheeky narrator -- makes this Australian movie feel as timeless as it is timely. And instead of feeling dutifully cultural as we immerse ourselves in this story, we're genuinely intrigued, touched and even amused. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterMegan Lehmann
In telling this ancient story with style and humor, de Heer and his Aboriginal collaborators promote cultural understanding and acceptance by stealth, if you will. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
There is nothing more enthralling than a good yarn, and Ten Canoes interweaves two versions of the same story, one filmed in black and white and set a thousand years ago, and an even older one, filmed in color and set in a mythic, prehistoric past. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Like a lot of folk tales, Ten Canoes peters out into something more prosaic than profound, but it flows like water, and has a deceptively gentle pull that proves hard to escape. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Despite dancing between a story and a story within a story, something seems simple and effortless about Ten Canoes. Director Rolf de Heer and his all-Yolngu cast offer a take on tribal life that's warm, funny and powerfully alive. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
A top-flight example of cinematic storytelling, thanks in large part to the unusual narration, spoken in English by David Gulpilil. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Inspired by anthropologist Donald Thomson's early-20th-century photographs, this collaboration between a Western filmmaker and the native people of Ramingining is an impressive achievement of ethnographic cinema. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
It's a fascinating immersion within a highly ritualized Stone Age oral culture that, at least according to tradition, existed almost unchanged for thousands of years before the European arrival. Read full review
80
EmpireSam Toy
Ten Canoes is a rare and valuable movie, providing fascinating insight into another culture without pandering or being stuffy. Seek it out -- swim if you have to. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Ten Canoes is nonetheless audacious and impressive, but challenging work, requiring steadfast concentration. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Funny, perceptive, bawdy, tragic and philosophical, pretty much everything a viewer -- or a listener -- could ask for. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A rollicking good story set a millennium ago among Australian aborigines, Ten Canoes is one of those cultural-building exercises that genuinely entertains. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Jokes about flatulence, human excrement and the size of someone's manhood also come into play, but they never cheapen this lush and enjoyable film. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Offers another way into these complex indigenous people, through storytelling as haunting as their artwork. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Ten Canoes is as much a work of anthropology as it is a narrative, and its true strength lies in its exploration of ancient aboriginal hunting practices, death rituals, and legal traditions. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The humor in de Heer's script is mostly anatomical, and the performances of the nonpro cast are stiffer than bark. But you've never seen anything like it. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It's a thriller that refuses to thrill. It taunts us with resolution and mysteries, then slaps our hand for reaching out for a conclusion. Read full review
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