After an early body of work filled with noirish thrillers, director Nicholas Ray seemed to have a change of interest in the latter stages of his career. He became much more fascinated with making movies set in diverse locations, and exploring the cultural and ecological issues that the people from these places experienced. Movies like Bitter Victory, Wind Across The Everglades, The Savage Innocents and 55 Days At Peking belong in this late section of Ray's oeuvre. No film illustrates his enthusiasm for cultural diversity more than The Savage Innocents, a powerful, intelligent and informative film about Eskimo existence. The film ran into some censorship difficulties back in its day, mainly for depicting the Eskimo lifestyle with unflinching accuracy. The white characters in the film are often repulsed and appalled by certain Eskimo customs, and it seems that the very same customs had a similar effect on the censors.
Inuk (Anthony Quinn) is a strong, handsome Eskimo who has spent much of his life waiting for the right woman to take as his wife. Since men far outnumber women in their society, it is viewed as a sign of hospitality if a man with a wife shares her with a man without one for sexual practises. Inuk is tired of "borrowing" women from his friends and is determined to find a suitable wife, which he eventually does when he chooses the attractive and hard-working Asiak (Yoko Tani) over her equally desirable sister Imina (Kaida Horiuchi). Inuk ekes out a constantly demanding existence by travelling around the frozen wastelands searching for food for his wife and her mother Powtee (Marie Yang). One day, he learns from another Eskimo that there is a white man's trading post nearby where he might purchase a gun that will make his hunting expeditions easier, safer and more successful. Inuk enthusiastically decides to visit the trading post, but when he arrives there a naïve and idealistic missionary (Marco Guglielmi) tries to talk to him about God and morality and Christianity. Confused, Inuk tries to show generosity by "lending" his wife to the missionary, but the man is appalled at the suggestion and refuses. This in turn insults Inuk, so he kills the missionary and leaves. Later, two Mounted Police officers (Carlos Justini and Peter O'Toole) hunt for Inuk to bring him to justice, barely realising that by his own Eskimo code he has done no wrong. Inuk is viewed as a murderer purely because white man has imposed his own laws upon the land.
The conflict of civilised values is at the film's core. Some pretty gruesome things happen during The Savage Innocents, but within the context of the film they are not really gruesome at all. In perhaps the most memorable and powerful scene of all, O'Toole looks destined to lose his hands to frostbite. But Quinn kills one of his own dogs, cuts open its belly, and saves O'Toole's hands by shoving them inside and warming them on the dead dog's innards. The scene shows, in cold but authentic detail, how an Eskimo might survive against the elements by doing what a white man would consider uncivilised. The first three quarters of the film unfold in a fascinating, almost documentary-like manner. The final section becomes slightly more conventional, dealing with the Mountie's pursuit of Inuk. Having said that, there's still a fascinating irony in the way that the Eskimo cannot understand why they want him so badly, while they look upon him with the utmost contempt as a savage killer. At times slow and symbolic, at others powerful and enthralling, The Savage Innocents is definitely a film that deserves a look (especially in its uncensored form which is now widely available on DVD).
Inuk (Anthony Quinn) is a strong, handsome Eskimo who has spent much of his life waiting for the right woman to take as his wife. Since men far outnumber women in their society, it is viewed as a sign of hospitality if a man with a wife shares her with a man without one for sexual practises. Inuk is tired of "borrowing" women from his friends and is determined to find a suitable wife, which he eventually does when he chooses the attractive and hard-working Asiak (Yoko Tani) over her equally desirable sister Imina (Kaida Horiuchi). Inuk ekes out a constantly demanding existence by travelling around the frozen wastelands searching for food for his wife and her mother Powtee (Marie Yang). One day, he learns from another Eskimo that there is a white man's trading post nearby where he might purchase a gun that will make his hunting expeditions easier, safer and more successful. Inuk enthusiastically decides to visit the trading post, but when he arrives there a naïve and idealistic missionary (Marco Guglielmi) tries to talk to him about God and morality and Christianity. Confused, Inuk tries to show generosity by "lending" his wife to the missionary, but the man is appalled at the suggestion and refuses. This in turn insults Inuk, so he kills the missionary and leaves. Later, two Mounted Police officers (Carlos Justini and Peter O'Toole) hunt for Inuk to bring him to justice, barely realising that by his own Eskimo code he has done no wrong. Inuk is viewed as a murderer purely because white man has imposed his own laws upon the land.
The conflict of civilised values is at the film's core. Some pretty gruesome things happen during The Savage Innocents, but within the context of the film they are not really gruesome at all. In perhaps the most memorable and powerful scene of all, O'Toole looks destined to lose his hands to frostbite. But Quinn kills one of his own dogs, cuts open its belly, and saves O'Toole's hands by shoving them inside and warming them on the dead dog's innards. The scene shows, in cold but authentic detail, how an Eskimo might survive against the elements by doing what a white man would consider uncivilised. The first three quarters of the film unfold in a fascinating, almost documentary-like manner. The final section becomes slightly more conventional, dealing with the Mountie's pursuit of Inuk. Having said that, there's still a fascinating irony in the way that the Eskimo cannot understand why they want him so badly, while they look upon him with the utmost contempt as a savage killer. At times slow and symbolic, at others powerful and enthralling, The Savage Innocents is definitely a film that deserves a look (especially in its uncensored form which is now widely available on DVD).