ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Nat Williams This movie, about love lost and found, started out full of promise. An Eskimo village in the Canadian arctic is visited by a British mapmaker in 1931 who befriends an orphaned native, Avik. Avik contracts tuberculosis and the mapmaker flies him to Montreal, where he is raised in a Catholic hospital/school. He heals, learns English and meets a girl who, like him, is a half-breed, and they enjoy an episode of puppy love until she is whisked away. So far, so good. We anticipate the two meeting again. A decade later he ends up as part of an RAF bombing crew in World War II. Coincidentally, the girl is also working for the British military, reading the photographs taken by Avik on his bombing runs. Also, she is involved with the man who rescued young Avik years earlier. This was one of those movies that sent one to the kitchen after the first act to microwave some popcorn and enjoy the rest. Unfortunately, the second half was disappointing. The characters, relationships and situations don't live up to expectations. Much of the cinematography is excellent, and it's not a total waste. But the film could have been so much more.

tommytune79 This is a beautiful, thoughtful, heart-wrenching story. The cinematography of the film is artful and intimate, it feels like you are in the room, almost shamefully eavesdropping... the ending doesn't completely gel for me, the story line works, but I think it needs to be fleshed out a bit more. The ensemble performances are letter perfect, the subtleties and inner thoughts of these characters are crystal clear to the viewer, it's almost unnerving. The frantic energy of wartime life is captured beautifully, without being a trite war movie. It's just another layer of these characters reality, it doesn't overwhelm the story. Brandon Lee is beautiful in this role, very impressive performance. Great great story, I loved this movie!!!!

oshram-3 Map stars Jason Scott Lee as an Eskimo named Avik who is taken from his people as a boy by an explorer named Walter (Patrick Bergen) because he has tuberculosis. In the hospital where he is sent he meets up with a young half-breed French Canadian girl named Albertine (Anne Parillaud, as the adult version) and they become inseparable friends, usually annoying the strict Catholic headmistress (Jeanne Moreau) with their pranks. In the course of time, Albertine is healed and leaves; eventually Avik is as well and he returns to his own people. But he is no longer wanted, and eventually he re-teams with Walter on a return expedition and signs up for the war. He's assigned to a bomber group and has pretty good luck over Germany. Near the end of his service time, he chances to run into Albertine again, who is working in bomber command, and the two rekindle their friendship, which has turned into something more for Avik, at least.Map is a slow-moving film that lingers on its subject and the beautiful countryside that surrounds them. Whether it's the fields outside of a Montreal hospital, the English countryside, or the endless white snows of the Arctic, we are continually treated to sumptuous visions of the earth – all the better to contrast with the characters, who find themselves confined much of the time, be it in a bomber, a bunker, or an igloo.The beauty is also starkly counter-balanced by the best scene in the film, a final raid over Dresden that is a testament to the bizarre beauty that can be found in hellish destruction. The bombers seem to move in slow motion as we are treated to the fiery landscape, a city consumed by flame, made all the more vivid when Avik is shot down and must make his way through, almost literally, Hell.Map is also a sad story, of longing between two people who will never be together, and in that vein it's a very poignant film. But it's lovingly told, and even though it may lack a happy ending, or even a very coherent one (a waking dream sequence merges with reality in a sometimes confusing way at the very end), it's nonetheless a satisfying film for those with a little patience.Jason Scott Lee has never been better. Though Avik isn't given a wide emotional range, Lee manages to convey the deep feelings that run within him gestures rendered almost in shorthand. And Parillaud, although Albertine is somewhat flighty, also gives a strong performance. Bergen is very good as well, imbuing Walter with an adventurer's sense of wonder that turns darker as the man ages. All three of them play well off one another.Map isn't for everyone – it is long, slow, and a little depressing – but it's also a beautiful film and it certainly revels in the gentle unraveling of its subject matter. It's also not a movie you're likely to find many places – I had to join Netflix to get it – but I find it's worth looking for.

dbborroughs This is one of the best movies I've ever seen....I never want to see it again.Why don't I want to see it? Its simply depressing. I can't watch it with out becoming suicidal. This is the story of two ill fated lovers over the early and mid part of the 20th century. Its told in flashback in a fishing village in Canada.What can I say? This is a film of great performances and moments, the firestorm in Dresden gives me nightmares.I would love to recommend the film, but its ultimately so bleak I don't know many people who would want to see it.Still I give it 10 out of 10 simply because it provokes such a deep reaction in me.