Happy People a Year in the Taiga Review
Honest life of honest people
Saw this one a couple of years agone and was really stunned with the quality of this documentary.
Movie crew lived through a year in Bakhta, small simple village of huntsmen and fishermen in Siberia, and they take done an amazing job of showing how unproblematic life, hard (you bet) labour and everlasting circle of life brand people... pure. Happy.
There's non a hint of falseness, no desolation, no complaints. And that'south probably what got to me the most: perfect documentary, no opinion imposed, only showing this life 'as is' - and the clarity of it strikes you, urban people, deep to the core.
Must run into, actually.
56 out of 58 constitute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
incredible quality documentary virtually trappers and life in the wild
This is the quality you dream discovery aqueduct had..perhaps they did years agone. Nosotros get to follow the lives of fur trappers in remote siberia. Information technology gives insight to how we lived before the 9-5 jobs at least in scandinavia its probably the best wilderness documentary I've seen.
Its downwardly to earth and the scenery is jawdropping. Its a hard but honest life and a lot of humanity yet all the same the wilderness stares back at you from the screen.
If you like documentaries with ray mears or expeditions with lars monsen this for you. Without the drama or the smugness of teaching you lot get to follow how they have learned to alive with nature and not confronting it.
And its not focused with misery just because they are off grid and not role of the consumer hysteria (astonishing).
Its prissy for in one case not having to do a review to warn viewers merely instead recommend it. Watch this you volition not exist lamentable.
57 out of 61 plant this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Absolutely fascinating
I was nearly immediately enthralled with this documentary most the life of a trapper in the boreal forest of Siberia in the town of Bakhta (population around 300). I did not expect it to be so interesting, but looking at the credits of managing director Werner Herzog, 68 in all, I am non then surprised. Apparently I have stumbled upon a great managing director of documentary films that previously I knew nix about. Also directing was Dmitry Vasyukov.
What makes this work so well is the clear, concrete particular shown equally the trapper (Nikolay Nikiforovitch Siniaev, I believe) goes nearly what he has to practice throughout the entire yr in order to survive in the harsh climate. What must be done in spring as he prepares for the melting of the snow (and the mosquitos!) is very different from what must be done in the dead of winter when there is ice on the man'southward beard. Interesting enough during both winter and summer they fish the river for pike, breaking water ice in winter and throwing nets in the summer, which they either smoke or feed to the dogs.
The dogs! In this film we can see clearly the essential symbiotic human relationship between humans and dogs. It is non clear that the trapper would exist able to exercise his work without the help of his dogs. The dog'due south ears and its sense of smell broaden the human'south cognition and feel and then that together we see them work as a team. When the homo makes a musquito repellent from the bark of a birch tree (I recollect it was birch) he rubs it on his dogs too.
The corporeality of carpentry and other wood working that the trapper has to do, including making craft to navigate the rivers and streams, is surprising. Of course the traps he makes are made more often than not of wood. He traps sable for its valuable fur. To do and so he has to place traps over a wide area which means he has to maintain diverse cabins in the woods that he and whoever is working with him can stay overnight since the treks encompass many miles of frozen footing. Nosotros run into him knocking downward the snow piled high on the cabins, repairing damage made by bears, etc.
The idea that the people are happy and especially the trapper cannot be argued with fifty-fifty though their lives are hard. The life's lesson here is that when a homo is consumed with work that he has to do, that is necessary for his survival, and it is work that he can practise, that he has developed the skills to practise, that man is happy. He is happy partly because he is close to nature; in fact he is immersed in nature in a style like to way hunters and gathers were in Paleolithic times. It can be argued that that world, all the same challenging, is one that is natural for humans. (Of form there are other natural environments, some very dissimilar such as an equatorial jungle demanding a dissimilar set of skills.) Afterward watching this I intend to watch some of Herzog'southward other films.
By the way, Klaus Badelt's score is beautiful and haunting.
--Dennis Littrell, author of "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote"
16 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Another Winner from Herzog
Happy People: A Twelvemonth in the Taiga (2010)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
This documentary was co-directed and narrated by Werner Herzog but information technology didn't assemble as much attending as some of the filmmaker's previous films, which is a shame because this hither is some other winner. The film covers a full year with several trappers as nosotros run across what they seasonal lives are all most. This includes various traps that they must make, issues they face in the wilderness and some of the nearly fascinating stuff dealing with them living in the bitter common cold winters where temperatures attain 50-below nada. HAPPY PEOPLE: A Yr IN THE TAIGA is a really adept picture and nothing short of what you've come to await from Herzog. From what I've read, co-manager Dmitry Vasyukov actually spent the fourth dimension in Bakhtia, Russian federation and the footage was then turned over to Herzog. Even though the famed Deutschland director wasn't actually on the ground, this here still comes across equally his flick and it contains that certain love and joy that some of his best piece of work has. This film is yet another in a long line of films that take a look at people living in horrid condition yet being completely happy in their environs. Herzog has always been able to have "off" characters and make them seem normal. That's what happens here as we rail these trappers equally they go from ane hunt to another while having to deal with nature and come up with creative ways to trap and live. Herzog offers up his typical great narration just the real people are certainly the stars here every bit nosotros get to really know them and sympathize why they dear doing what they exercise.
11 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Eye on the Taiga
Solid and straightforward illumination of the ways in which a few fur-trappers live and work year-round in the Siberian Taiga.
Starting in Spring, we follow the stoic men on their seasonal routines in the village of Bakhtia on the Yenisei river. The utterly unique sight and audio of that big old river thawing and moving and creaking under the warm sun is totally sublime. With the onset of summer, the villagers participate in a fishing frenzy while fending off massive swarms of mosquitoes past rubbing tar all over themselves, their kids and their dogs. As autumn brings torrential rains, the water level rises and the trappers anxiously begin boating their heavy supplies into the vast wood. They brainstorm repairing their traditional traps scattered throughout the expanse while re-constructing their personal wooden huts, which they will use as shelters forth their treks through the deep snow.
Other than i hilarious moment showing an alternatively modern angling method, well-nigh all preparations for the long and alone winter of work in the wilderness are performed co-ordinate to very old cultural traditions. The simple and skilled construction of skis, traps, canoes, and huts from natural materials is shown with a patient fascination that draws us into a civilization uniquely connected to the earth.
Herzog'southward narration adds insight and a quirky humor to this otherwise forthright moving picture. His patent deadpan humor -- largely deriving in his over-enunciated German accent -- and his honest adoration of these self-reliant men living off the state in total liberty from materialism and bureaucracy is refreshing, even if a bit romanticized.
46 out of 50 establish this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Grizzly Men
Warning: Spoilers
Werner Herzog's "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" is comprised of footage shot for another documentary past Russian director Dmitry Vasykov. Vasykov's pic, roughly four hours long, detailed the lives of trappers living in the Siberian wilderness. Impressed with Vasykov's material, Herzog reassembled the footage, added his ain structure and voice over narration.
"Nosotros are all killers and accomplices," ane trapper says, "even those who are kind hearted." The rest of the film crawls its fashion through material familiar to Herzog fans. We spotter as tiny men struggle to survive in the wild and struggle to stay sane amid a Nature which threatens to suffocate. Herzog's trappers spend much of their time alone, at state of war and stuck in an ongoing cycle in which they fight the elements. Each potion of the year seems spent preparing for the side by side.
There are some moments of humour, like ane scene in which a ridiculous politician visits the Taiga, simply for the most part Herzog's customary applesauce is absent. Likewise, though there are some sublime sequences (nighttime time shots of a snow-capped village, for example), the majority of the moving picture lacks Herzog's unique eye. This is understandable, every bit Herzog shot no footage himself.
Some have plant Herzog'south portrayal of the Siberian wilderness to be cosy and romantic, but this is to misread the film. The "Happy People" of Herzog's championship is partially ironic, his picture focusing on a kind of tired drudgery. Locals are alcoholics, there is no paid work, men are separated from their families and the trappers live solitary lives seemingly torn from the Myth of Sisyphus. Perhaps simply Western eyes can romanticise what Herzog shows here; his characters bear witness no signs of pursing material possessions, are far removed from all pop civilisation trappings and are busy clinging to skills and traditions which seem on the verge of being lost to time. To some, this conveys a very specific course of nostalgia.
On another level, though, the film's title is very sincere. These trappers are men locked in a kind of Herzogian "natural land", free from modern neuroses, modern wants, manufactured desires and content with the fruits of their labour, their living weather and their lots in life. They don't moan, but knuckle down and get on with things. Herzog challenges our notions of contentment and happiness on one paw, whilst also deglamorising a kind of fashionable survivalism on the other.
7.nine/ten – One of Herzog'south more conventional documentaries. Incidentally, the pic features a relative of famed Russian director, Andrei Tarkovsky. Worth one viewing.
viii out of ix found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
A sincere documentary about something real
If you similar Werner Herzog so this film won't disappoint. His style is simple, honest and transparent. He gives you a clear sense of the reality of what about people would perceive to be a harsh manner of life in the Russian Taiga. We see humans who are connected to the cycles of nature, to the animals, the forest and to their traditions. At that place is a quiet wisdom and deep joy in this way of life and the movie serves equally a powerful contrast to about every other piece of media being fabricated today. The moving picture is like poem to a way of life that now seems like a distant dream. It is beautifully shot, with vignettes that look similar they are living paintings; Russian characters from the time of Tolstoy or Dostoyevesky.
38 out of 40 establish this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Not prime Herzog merely rewarding but the same
"Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" is the latest in a serial of nature documentaries past Werner Herzog (here with co-direction by Dimitry Vasyokov), this 1 chronicling life in a Siberian village over a twelve-month period. Bakhta is located alongside the Yenisei River in the Taiga Forest, and the inhabitants there have been eking out an existence under some pretty challenging conditions for centuries at present (this is Siberia, afterwards all). Nosotros lookout man equally they make preparations for trapping, build cabins in the wilderness, manner out canoes from erstwhile tree trunks, fish in the river, fend off bears and mosquitoes, and store upwards supplies for the roughshod winter to come. For this is life equally information technology is lived in 1 of the well-nigh misbegotten outposts of civilization. As Herzog himself says, these people resemble early Man from a distant ice age. And, nevertheless, as the title implies, the inhabitants of Bakhta are far from unhappy with their lot.
This is reflected most in the many wise and canny observations about the value of hard work and the cyclical nature of life emanating from one of the town's virtually seasoned citizens, a sort of rural philosopher who'due south been trapping in that area ever since the Communist authorities dropped him off and left him to fend for himself more than than forty years ago. It is his commentary, more than even Herzog'due south ain vocalization-over narration, that draws the viewer into this foreign and unfamiliar world, one that is striking in both its harshness and its stark beauty (the image of a massive river of thawing ice heading swiftly northward during the spring is non one that will exist easily forgotten).
This isn't Herzog'due south well-nigh innovative work by a long shot, but if anthropological studies are your preferred fare, this picture show will surely fit the nib.
However, a alarm may exist in social club for the hypersensitive viewer: this is Non a pic that comes with the proviso, "No animals were harmed in the making of this motion-picture show."
12 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Loved this really did
Went back to it a couple of times and marvelled at the ease of life for these simple folks in an otherwise demanding climate. The title did it complete justice too if you think about it, none of the trappings ( pardon the pun ) of modern club with stupid electronics and blitz hours and conveniences and distractions. Seems to me at that place's a huge lesson in this documentary every bit it pertains to that very thing. Stay simple and piece of work hard every mean solar day, at 1 with nature, and the land will provide. Sign me up. You lot'll marvel at the beauty of the mural and the rugged danger of the incredible wilderness these people phone call home. Give it a try and let Werner Herzog captivate you lot with that Schwarzeneggarian dialogue also! LOL
12 out of 13 institute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Homo vs. Nature
Werner Herzog in one case over again tackles the man against nature theme, equally he did with Grizzly Man previously. In that feature, he followed a guy living happily among a group of bears, until a very unfortunate ending. This time, he ventures to Siberia to tell the story of sable trappers battling the freezing common cold and other elements in the frozen tundra of the Soviet Matrimony. The scenery is spectacular, and the 24-hour interval to day lives of the inhabitants interesting to see from a modern western perspective. I honey the Huskies, who accompany the hunters during the brutal conditions with seeming content. As for the humans, they seem to exist satisfied with their physically enervating just rewarding lifestyles. Herzog narrates, as usual, with an mental attitude of respect for his subjects. He spends the ninety minutes sticking to the visual dazzler of the wilderness from overhead to underwater shots beneath the frozen river. An interesting documentary.
7 out of ix establish this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
A breath of fresh air...literally
The documentary is following people living in the wilderness of Russia, non Soviet Marriage every bit someone had commented. Soviet Wedlock is long gone.It is a reminder to all of u.s.a. how little people need to live life in joy. I did non get an impression that people are struggling, information technology might seem they struggle to those who are used to the modern conveniences, which practise brand our lives easier, but not happier. I would not compare information technology to the Man vs.Wild documentary. The theme of the documentary: the purpose is life is joy, the basis of life is freedom. People are but living in this remote part of a vast Russian federation and are content with their lives. This documentary is must see, a refreshing sight on the purpose of life. I would compare it to some other documentary "Agafia's Taiga Life"that brings so many questions and answers nigh life to those who are seeking it. Old we just demand to get abroad from the craziness of modern life with such documentaries to get a fresher perspective on life. It is as well educational for many Americans who know very little about Russia.
eight out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Interesting documentary most life in the rugged Russian Taiga
Interesting documentary on the lives of trappers and hunters in deep Siberia, along the banks of the river Yenisei, during the iv seasons of the year. For instance, in summer, nosotros see them line-fishing and collecting nuts and berries. In autumn, we meet them preparing traps, collecting and splitting wood and hoarding food as they prepare for the winter, where the weather tin be as depression as -50 degrees centigrade. They have a hermit, mostly self reliant life style, living in log cabins deep in the forest accompanied but by their dogs, with minimal contact with other people. They also seem to be exclusively male person. They have some modern engineering at their disposal, though they likewise alive and hunt with traditional instruments. Despite the championship, they exercise not seem particularly happy, they look more like taciturn, silent and reserved, able to make a living with very little. The documentary also had a detour seeing the native, shamanistic, Vodka-ravaged Ket people fishing and building their boats (an interesting fact, not mentioned in the movie, is that the Ket people are believed by anthropologists and geneticists to be the closest ancestors of native Americans).
Annotation: This has been widely credited as a Werner Herzog picture, but all the German director did was edit an original Russian Telly miniseries directed by Dmitri Vasyukov (he filmed them twelvemonth round) that lasted iv hours into xc minutes for international release. Herzog also provides narration in his trademark German language absolute English, accompanied sometimes by his ponderous philosophizing.
4 out of v constitute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010)
With "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" Werner Herzog (along with Dmitry Vasyukov and crew) once once more ventures into an exotic, afar land; narrating traditional (at times prehistoric) way-of-living of the 300-odd people in the remote village of Bakhta in Siberian Taiga.
The flick primarily focuses on village'due south primary breadwinners: 'trappers' who quarry in the thick of below -50 degree winter in the wilderness stretching thousands of square kilometers, across the Yenisei River flowing alongside the village. The village is nearly untouched by modernity and highly independent--snowfall-mobile and chainsaw few of the exceptions. Inaccessible virtually of the year, village tin merely be reached past a plane, or a boat in the brusque-lived, appropriate leap-summer season.
Herzog/Vasyukov esthetically showcase the accurate 'happiness' a man-being relishes fifty-fifty in absenteeism of engineering and materialistic advancements. All you need is a sense of liberty and accomplishment that folks in Taiga mostly come upon by the constantly keeping themselves constructively engaged. Instead of harming/modifying the nature, they have learned to live in harmony with information technology--assimilating their lifestyles around four unlike seasons: Bound, Summer, Fall, Winter.
The related web log-post has some delightful screen captures from the movie covering the 4-season bike and the specific chores set effectually them. Wish I could post them here, somehow! Posting sans the pictures, anyway.
Jump:
-Passing on the conventional wisdom (Ski-making) -Setting up the base of operations structure of quarry-traps -Smoking the Ski for shape and sturdiness -Canoe for line-fishing made of local wood -Widening of canoe using fire -Testing the new canoe and green huskies in get-go waters
Summer: -Amalgam huts for deep wintertime in the wilderness -Thawing of the river, Yenisei -Inherent tendencies of the Orion kicking in!
Fall:
-Nut gathering squirrel connotes: "Wintertime is coming" -Night-fisherman: fish is attracted to the fire-low-cal -Storing supplies nearby wintertime hut, away from Behave'south achieve -Carry hibernating but rats still a threat -Wading upstream: Transporting essentials to the hut
Winter:
-Checking the traps for quarry Earning his keep, smells prey! -After a difficult day's work returning dorsum to a roof that might cave-in under snowfall -Meanwhile, in the hamlet: Angling Holes Returning home for New year/Christmas
Trappers visit family unit during festivities, detect the husky running backside the snowmobile--he runs all the 150 frozen kilometers of the river! After a brusk stay with family (till Jan 6, Christmas) a trapper gets back to his wilderness for a couple more months--to his hut (that is naturally insulation using earth and dry out moss) with his best friend.
Thanks to Herzog, this documentary is a chance to live a dream lifestyle lot of us crave for.
3 out of iii found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
Alarm: Spoilers
Co-Directors Dmitry Vasyukov and Werner Herzog takes usa to one of the harshest parts of the world partly inhibited by people – Siberian Taiga. Documentary Happy People: A Year in the Taiga invites to follow how lives of local fur-trappers are effected by the cycles of nature.
Brisk spring, shortest summertime and cold fall followed by forever lasting winter – the only rule created past Taiga. The only imposed rule otherwise truly free people equipped only with individual values have to follow. Cocky-sufficiency and seemingly archaic methods perfected hundreds of years ago are passed on by discussion of mouth from one generation to the next. Trapping, skis making, canoe carving, food preparation or angling are true traditions and legacy pocket-sized customs of 300 people wants to preserve.
"You lot tin can accept everything from the man, everything, simply you tin't have his arts and crafts."
Documentary Happy People: A Yr in the Taiga resembles raw video footage and thus serves the purpose very well. Seemingly wintry demeanor so common to people from the North is warmed by intimate stories and confessions – dog that becomes a family fellow member, unwritten lawmaking of hunting, respect for the past, timeless traditions, unconditional beloved for Taiga and overwhelming enormity of confinement.
"You see that everything is going forwards equally information technology should. Information technology gives you lot a sense of job being washed. And it is not y'all who are doing it, but you lot still feel a office of it."
PopcornBanned.com
vii out of 8 institute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Practiced mode to absurd downward during summertime
I watched this motion-picture show during an Australian heatwave - good choice!
Definitely helped cool me down. Witnessing a Siberian winter has that effect on you. I really loved the elementary, nevertheless inspiring manner of life these people had. No radio, no Boob tube, no cyberspace, no phone - only man and dog vs an endless wilderness. At that place's something quite highly-seasoned about that. It'southward doubtful I'll ever experience that kind of solitude, merely it was smashing living vicariously through these tough Russian trappers!
I wouldn't recommend the moving picture for vegans or vegetarians though, equally it depicts an old traditional way of life - living off the state, hunting animals, and using the landscape to survive, make a living. It was emotional watching the old war veteran break down talking nearly the war too; nevermind the amazing dog who ran 150km not-stop in the snowfall to get domicile - pass me the tissues!
I loved the leisurely step of the film. It never felt irksome and was thoroughly interesting throughout. I can't aid only think my own Granddad, who was a hunter and bushman would've enjoyed seeing his Russian equivalents and their unique methods for overcoming challenges.
These people really put my ain first world problems in perspective. Definitely recommend to those needing a slower pace of life, or who are stressed out or anxious. Probably my favourite Herzog picture to date.
2 out of two found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Some other thumps up for Herzog
Warning: Spoilers
HAPPY PEOPLE is another sterling documentary from Werner Herzog, this time exploring rural life in Siberia. Herzog is my favourite documentary filmmaker and then information technology's a natural that I'd enjoy this motion picture and it's just as good as the residual of his piece of work. For much of the running time this film follows around trappers as they strive to survive in an inhospital landscape. At that place are stunning landscape shots and nature photography besides as animals, dogs, and handicrafts. We watch the trappers gear up their traps and build canoes and cabins while lengthy interviews with the wilderness people actually become to the heart of the subject area at hand. As is usual for Herzog, he takes a little-known subject and explores it in depth in a fascinating way.
1 out of i institute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Siberian Paradise and the hunters who thrive from it.
Warning: Spoilers
Werner Herzog brings us to the Taiga, a frosty paradise in which modern twenty-four hour period fur trappers utilize both old and new technology to thrive in an expansive wilderness much larger than the U.S., often at temperatures below minus forty degrees. These trappers are expert outdoors-men / survivalists / hunters that accept perfected the art of trapping sable with the help of their dogs.
I learned how to brand and ready various types of traps, build a canoe from hand, catch pike fish from a frozen river, make bootleg insect repellent, protect my nutrient rations from bears and mice, and much, much more.
I have few if whatever legitimate complaints about this first-class flick. Herzog doesn't fail to mention the cruelty that the animals suffer, including the poor hunting dogs which oft don't live long in the harsh conditions. One of the hunters admits to feeling pity for his prey, but that he prefers slaughtering sable rather than subcontract animals, a job he had decades before.
My favorite part of the film is when one of the hunters is making his style back to base camp through dense forest on his snowmobile, a breathtakingly beautiful commute to say the to the lowest degree. Another was when the camera goes underneath the frozen river to evidence the nets catching the state highway fish. On New year's day's Eve the hunters render to the village via snowmobile over the frozen river, and Herzog points out that some hunters make their dogs run the entire altitude in a day, an astonishing 150 kilometers, (93 miles). No wonder the dogs oft live short lives, especially if the hunters push button them and then difficult. I did likewise wonder how long the hunters are expected to live.
Every bit a vegan, I experience especially deplorable that animals suffer to bring their furs to the marketplace, but I didn't deduct any points for it. It's an fantabulous expect at a civilisation that is as unlike my ain as whatever I could imagine. 8 stars, definitely worth a second or even third viewing!
iv out of iv establish this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Great film! Could information technology get amend?
It appears that is tin! However neat this film is it has no comparison with the original movie - "All-time DOCUMENTARY" winner "Happy Peolpe" ("Schastlivie liudi") filmed and for the whole twelvemonth lived by information technology's director - Dmitriy Vasyukov (Russia). Having been filmed in a distant Bakhta village in Siberia, Russia it portrays the lives of the real heros of our time. Existent - in the purest sense of the give-and-take, every bit an an reverse to the fictional and dreamy sex simbols - the simply male person part-models we have had for centuries) - the Real fearless man continuing one to one to the Real challenges of truthful, raw, Real live. All of this framed by the absolutely heed blowingly gorgeous vastness of the Siberian nature. It is viewable on youtube in original language with English subtitles.
4 out of iv found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Interesting documentary footage, a scrap marred by Herzog's philosophizing
Warning: Spoilers
This documentary depicts the harsh life lived by some inhabitants of Bakhtia, Russia, a small village in Siberia (55 degrees n, 92 degrees east). Bakhtia is isolated, bachelor only by ship and helicopter in the summer months. Otherwise the people in that location are on their own
The moving-picture show concentrates on 1 Gennady Soloviev, a hardy fur trapper and hunter. Gennady is pretty much occupied total time just making a go of it--setting traps, stocking caches in summer for wintertime employ, chopping wood, and and so along. Much of the year in the Bakhtia area is spent in sub-aught temperatures, with readings of -30F not being unusual. I am not too keen on existence out at sub-nil temperatures for any great length of time. When Gennady sees that snow has damaged one of his cottages he has no problem with diving in and repairing it in -30F weather. The making of a canoe from scratch later on downing a tree, using but an ax, was impressive--it is my observation that that is not a common talent in 21st century America. Paddling against the current on the Yenisei River looks to exist an activity simply for the stiff. Watching this fabricated me realize how far from unproblematic survival concerns virtually people in the United States are.
The moving-picture show credits Dmitry Vasyukov as co-director. Vasyukov actually filmed all of the fabric for a four hour documentary and, for this movie, Herzog has taken that footage and edited it to 90 minutes, adding his narration. Information technology would exist of interest to come across the original, since I suspect Herzog has imposed a certain idealized romanticism that reflects his own views rather than those of Vasyukov.
For case, Herzog comments that, "They live off the state and are self reliant, truly free. No rules, no taxes, no government, no laws, no bureaucracy, no phones, no radio, equipped merely with their individual values and standard of conduct." I think no society, however small, can office without understood rules and some class of structure. Gennady has the right to trap on a certain land area, such area being delineated by government oversight. The self reliance is non totally true. How did Gennady come by his snow mobile and chainsaw? Where did the gas come from to power those machines? Supplies were flown in by helicopter and ship; how were those supplies paid for? I wanted more data on the local economy. Since trapping sables was prized, I assume that sable fur was sold to high end consumers as part of how the trappers could afford to buy their supplies.
Every bit for happiness, I did not see these people every bit being exceptionally happy. Gennady admitted to despising some trappers that he saw as greedy. Is Gennady whatever happier than a estimator programmer in Los Angeles who is passionate nearly her work?
four out of eight found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
When it's Herzog
You know information technology'll be a ride. Satisfying to say the least nearly true roughing in the bush. Also educational.
1 out of 1 institute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Beautiful, slightly boring
I have recently seen my first 2 Werner Herzog documentaries, Into the Abyss and Grizzly Man and I loved both of them and so came to Happy People with high hopes. It was a bit of a let-down.
Firstly, virtually people seem to give Herzog all the credit here yet he did not go out to Siberia to film any of his 'own' documentary. Whilst he shares directorial credit, Dmitry Vasyukov did all the cute camera-work and put in the hard days living in those conditions, so he must get the lion'southward share of the plaudits.
Secondly, the film purports to exist aboutthe lives of the villagers yet the vast majority of the film concerns one trapper. The motion-picture show follows him and his dogs around equally he goes about his life hunting animals in the wild. Nosotros larn adjacent to cypher about the lives of the women or children in the village, and there are but desultory moments featuring other menfolk. Information technology felt as if the flick was about this i hunter and the residue of the people in it were just context for his life.
Thirdly, where are the 'happy people' the title refers to? I didn't see whatsoever particularly happy people in the film. I recollect the principle backside the moving picture was to give the impression that people who lead simpler, remote lives are happier than the residual of us, but i saw no show of this any. The men who were shown collecting logs, who referred to their universal booze problems, looked particularly UNhappy. These people atomic number 82 very difficult lives in farthermost conditions. I'1000 not saying they were going around looking miserable, merely they certainly weren't jumping for joy at their wonderful lives. It seems a bizarre title for the moving picture.
Finally, I like to learn from documentaries but I also like to be entertained and I institute this pic simply a flake boring. This is not to say there are no good points ... at that place are scores of beautiful nature shots and information technology is an interesting look into a completely different fashion of life. That was non enough for me to make information technology a recommendation.
6 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Happy By Soviet Standards, Presumably
Presumably the title is meant to be somewhat ironic; the people depicted certainly aren't happy all the fourth dimension, but have a rugged life.
The box is non entirely accurate; information technology says that it describes a way of life piffling changed for centuries. However, while the flick does draw a grouping of natives whose fashion of life is dying out, the pic concentrates mainly on people sent in by the Soviet regime decades ago to do hunting and trapping.
Unlike other Herzog movies I've seen, the people depicted are far from quirky or weird. They are normal and rational people living the merely way to live in their locale, trapping furs to sell, buying few exterior supplies (such as tools and snowmobiles) as needed, but otherwise building their own cabins, trapping and hunting their own nutrient, depending on their dogs but treating them without sentiment. The motion-picture show concentrates mostly on the trappers and their routines; yous meet little of their wives and families.
The people are happy in the sense that they have the freedom to act on their own instead of having to follow orders, I presume.
three out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Roughshod
Hardy people working from spring to fall with 1 goal to survive the winter.
1 out of 1 plant this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Man in Harmony with Nature
One of the hunters was talking about the cycles of the flavor and the corresponding work that needed to be washed. He said "i has a sense that everything is getting washed at the right time and all the correct things are happening" - it was clear from his heartfelt declaration that he was completely - all of them were completely in harmony with nature. The same hunter shared that you could take everything abroad from a man, only not his skills. He was proud of his skills which are substantial, from making skiis to complex, ingenious traps to log cabins. With an axe, for the nigh office. Throughout is a sense of accomplishment, pride and fulfillment -- and honest, transparent communication. Information technology is all an eye opener from my western consumer perspective. Likewise few if any in today's urban world are equally happy as that. I think at that place's learning here for us urban desk-bound slaves.
On this note, an interesting perspective was the Tet/Siberian natives and the problem with alcohol. They seemed unhappy, and blamed their alcoholism and situation on the Russians and their vodka. What stands out is they essentially accept no disadvantage in terms of opportunity relative to the hunters. If anything, they have a community to fall back on. I recognize this project of blame, being from Canada, where nosotros have thrown so much money at helping and getting literally nowhere except criticized and in debt. I experience pity but not responsibility.
This was very enjoyable - I observe their ethos of hard work, self sufficiency, transparency of feeling, kindness and pride in what they have accomplished to be very compelling -- illustrating equally it does what is needed for human fulfillment.
1 out of ane found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Information technology's a solid, responsible, and progressive utilize of the flick medium. But when it comes to deeper political issues, and discussion effectually them, "Happy People" misses the mark.
Warning: Spoilers
The documentary starts in the village of Bakhtia at the river Yenisei, in the Siberian Taiga. (The Taiga is the surrounding wilderness.) At that place are no roads; the merely way to accomplish Bakhtia is by helicopter, or by boat. And even boats can but go to Bakhtia during the few water ice-free months; otherwise the river is frozen over.
Bakhtia has approximately 300 inhabitants, and the majority of them make their living as trappers. Most of the picture show focuses on these hunters. And, say the trappers spoken to, they are happy. Out of all the opportunities bachelor to them, trapping is the all-time way to make a living, they explain. One gets to work and live in the beauty of the Taiga, and the merely person they must reply to is themselves.
The nature and landscape seen in the motion picture is of class stunning. The documentary was filmed over the course of a year, and across the four seasons, and that is the way the film is divided (starting with spring, catastrophe with winter).
The trappers nosotros follow are seldom in Bakhtia. There is only a pocket-size window of time in which they can hunt, just most of their piece of work is done preparing for the hunting. And they stick to the old ways, being almost entirely cocky sufficient. The simply ii modern technologies they use are chainsaws and snowmobiles. Other than this, the men brand everything themselves; their own shelter, their own traps, and they catch and prepare the majority of their own food.
The men trap alone, and only take their dogs for company. "You are no hunter without a dog," i trapper says. Just the companionship the men share with their canines is just a bonus, because the dogs are used practically. Actually, the dogs' presence is discussed extensively in the picture. One of the most interesting things, as one man discusses, is the human relationship these trappers share with the animals. He explains that some men nearly share a plate with their dog, and allow the domestic dog slumber on their cot. Himself? He makes his dog sleep outside, fifty-fifty when it's very cold, and he does non feed it too much. Though, he notwithstanding says, there is definitely honey shared betwixt him and his dog.
The film also tackles a major problem in Bakhtia: alcoholism. As one labour worker explains, almost of the one-time ways (such equally the disquisitional function of elders) accept been lost and forgotten. So at present drinking is rampant, perhaps considering most men only accept their work (monotonous, lonesome, and tough) and nothing else.
One aspect in which the documentary is defective, is that it fails to suggest any solutions (either from the filmmakers, those filmed, or anyone else) of how to heal the problems these humane and minor people face. Seeing into Bakhtia, I was both grateful for and saddened (mostly saddened) by my Westernized life. The trappers in the pic claim to be happy, simply how pleasant, truly, tin such a severely isolated life, killing and constantly working to survive, bring happiness? I retrieve what is meant, is that out of the opportunities available to them, trapping is indeed the best. Happy or not, without having to answer to any government, or anyone else, these hunters really are their own makers, in the good and the bad.
"Happy People" is a rare, idea-provoking look into a type of life many would otherwise never exist able to meet. It's a solid, responsible, and progressive use of the motion picture medium. But when information technology comes to deeper political issues, and discussion around them, "Happy People" misses the mark.
screenplayisles.blogspot
ii out of 9 institute this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683876/reviews
0 Response to "Happy People a Year in the Taiga Review"
Post a Comment