A touching and poignant survival drama about a Canadian bush pilot whose life is changed after an encounter with a sick young Inuit woman. Their challenge, to survive the harsh conditions of the Northwest Territories following a seaplane crash. People will remember the marvellous performance Barry Pepper gave as the sharpshooter in Saving Private Ryan and he is a force in this one too. His co-star, Annabella Piugattuk, gave a wonderful debut performance too, imbuing a naturalism that allowed her to display the emotional and spiritual nature of her people. Some scenes are padding, such as backstory to the pilot's psychological challenges, and there are some false notes too with Pepper's girlfriend back home. But, the power of the picture scrapes this into special territory.

The Snow Walker is as bleak and tragic as they come, attempting to find scant traces of beauty, kinship and compassion amidst a hopeless tale unfolding on the edge of the world. Charlie (Barry Pepper) is an ex WWII pilot who has flown a lot of missions, but none quite like the one he embarks on here. On a remote plane trip in the Arctic, he comes across a nomadic family of Inuits who are in desperate need of help. One among them, a girl named Kanaalaq (Annabella Piugattuk, fantastic), is sick with what appears to be tuberculosis, and will die if not treated soon. Charlie agrees to fly her back to civilization in exchange for a few wares, but during the voyage his plane develops mechanical problems and he is forced to make a crash landing in the middle of the wilderness. Stranded with little food, a sick girl and no hope of rescue, he and Anaalaq are brutalized by the incoming winter, tested beyond the limits of endurance by the harsh terrain around them and pushed to the point of despair. Charlie's old friend (a sincere James Cromwell) sends a cocky bush pilot (Jon Gries) in hopes of locating him, but because Charlie took a detour en route, it's worse than finding a needle in a haystack. There's a mournfully poetic sense to the landscape around them, a dry and unforgiving vista that is shutting down as winter looms on the horizon, indifferent to the two of them, clinging to survival. Charlie is a loner, an outsider, and this situation tests his interpersonal skills as well as his stamina. Anaalaq speaks little to no English, and he not a word of Inuktituk, forcing deeper methods of communication and a trust in each other, warm compassion to ward off the cold anguish threatening their existence. This is not a Hollywood film (except for a random cameo from Michael Bublé, of all people), and as such is never predictable, easy or familiar. It walks it's own road, a road into utter hopelessness. Watch something lighthearted after, your emotions will need the counterweight.

I assume that Charles Martin Smith was inspired to make this film after making "Never Cry Wolf" another beautiful accomplishment taking place in the frozen north. There are plenty of reviews here that explain the plot line and story. I am sure many of them mention the beautiful direction, the wonderful and moving performances by Barry Pepper and Annabella Piugattuk and all the supporting cast.In this review, I wanted to express my appreciation to the director for explaining to all of us who have seen the film how it is even possible for anyone to survive in a landscape which seems so barren. The film acknowledges that when the Inuits die, their tools go with them and it is the few tools that they carry that make it possible to survive.Nature abounds around us all, but most of us could not exist without microwaves and prepackaged foods. Yet these people live and thrive in a place that most people will experience only from the relative safety of a cruise ship! I wanted to thank the director for allowing us this glimpse into the lives of people who survive in one of the most amazing yet inhospitable places on the planet. I learned so much from this film and was so moved by its beauty and the performances.

Although Canada is a tenth the population our our neighbours, we have just as many talented novelists. Among the names who have sold internationally are:, Margret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Mordecai Ritchler, and also Farely Mowat. Mowat takes us into the coldest parts of the country where he gives us the most heartwarming stories. This is one. Although I have not read this particular book, I can honestly say that the Snow Walker is among the most heartbreaking of Canadian movies.Charlie Halliday is a young pilot in the Canadian Northwest Territories, who is about to endure a life changing experience. It all begins when he takes on a young Inuit girl as a passenger at the plea of her family. He was just doing a test flight and happened to set the plane down just a few feet from their camp. They want him to take her to Yellowknife (the capitol of the Northwest territories) because she is very sick. He agrees to do so, but they don get very far. In mid air, the engine blows and the planes goes down, down down, and crashes in the middle of the vast empty tundra. Well it doesn't crash, he manages to land it, barely. With only a handful of supplies and a heck of a long walk, the two must fight to survive the coming elements.The Snow Walker is Kurosawa, meets Atanarjuat, meets Dances with Wolves, meets several others, but you get the point. It is emotionally epic and visually stunning. If you are smart and resourceful, you don't need a big budget to make a visually stunning motion picture, Nature itself is your big budget. Just set up a camera, on a hill, wait until the sun is in the right position and start shooting, and you can have a real epic sunset rather than a CG one. It is more challenging, but no pain no gain, all the best movies are the result of hard physical labor. Although there are a few moments that I would have cut out if I were editing this movie, I don't think there is a single bad scene in the Snow Walker. There is not a bad performance, nor is there a bad shot in the movie. It is beautiful and epic, and it is shameful that Canadian films like Snow Walker are not even screened in Canadian theatres let alone the rest of the world.