THE WHITE DAWN

US, 1976, 110 minutes, Colour.
Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms, Lou Gossett.
Directed by Philip Kaufman.

The White Dawn is a docu-drama, set in the late 19th century amongst whaling sailors and their being stranded in the Eskimo territories in northern Canada. The film was made on location. It is very vivid in its use of landscapes, in the employing of Eskimos to portray their way of life. There is an attention to detail and customs. The stars are Timothy Bottoms, Warren Oates and Louis Gossett Jnr. However, their characterisation is dwarfed by the film's emphasis on the Eskimos and their way of life.

The film was co-written and directed by Philip Kaufman (The Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry and June, Rising Sun, Quills).

1.A portrait of the north? Docu-drama style?

2.The Baffin islands, the locations, the Eskimos and their authentic lifestyle, the details of the way of life?

3.The title, the world of the Eskimos, the 19th century?

4.The pre-credits sequences: the whalers, the voice-over and the diary, the sailing ships, the food and the feeding, the whale-chasing, the accident?

5.Survival on the ice, death, the plight of the survivors?

6.The portrait of the three American sailors: white and black, their backgrounds, being saved, health and sickness, fears, language barriers, sharing in customs, the hunt, eating, rituals, mating and love, support, clashes, prejudices?

7.The Eskimos and their way of life, adapting to the terrain, their skills? Compassion, helping the white sailors? Language? Communication?

8.The detail of the experience, the hunting, the seals and the walrus, the bears? Snow, weapons?

9.The picture of a different civilisation, the effect on the Americans? Standards of civilisation, behaviour, rituals? Morals and values?

10.The resolution for each of the sailors?

11.A portrait of another world?