My first Canadian film of TIFF 2018 was special on multiple levels. "Edge of the Knife" is one of several indigenous films here this year, co-directed by Gwaii Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown.
A small family on the Haida Gwaii islands off the coast of BC is riven by the death of a child and the disappearance of a young man.
What makes the film special is that the dialogue used the native language of the island, a language that is spoken by only a handful of people in the world. A lot of attention is paid to depicting the lives of these people as accurately as possible — their clothes, their rituals and tools are carefully rendered.
Most of the story concerns the missing man and his transformation into a forest-dwelling "Wild man". This is a common story among the idea and a variety of techniques to depict his madness. The sophistication of the camera work, editing and sound design is exceptional. And the island itself is a character in the drama.
Well worth a look when it gets a release post-TIFF.
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