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Even if Ten Canoes had come across as insular and inaccessible, it would still have been a major achievement: the first film shot entirely in the Aboriginal language, with an exclusively Aboriginal cast. But writer-director Rolf de Heer ensures that Ten Canoes is beyond mere curiosity. Using the shared language of universal experience, he crafts a highly accessible story, and buttresses it with English narration from Australia's most prominent Aboriginal actor, David Gulpilil. Much as Mel Gibson did with Apocalypto that same year, albeit with a very different budget, de Heer serves as the bridge between his characters and their Western audiences. Given the delicacy of bringing the Aboriginal community on board with the project, one might assume Ten Canoes would err on the side of safeness, rendering its subjects with reverential political correctness. It's to both sides' credit that nothing could be further from the truth. The characters make jokes about flatulence, machismo and genitalia like all other communities on earth, the truest indication of our common denominators. De Heer's storytelling techniques take care of the rest. As characters are introduced, the camera lingers on a tight framing of their faces, and the half-dozen key characters are referenced repeatedly for clarity. The story within the story is set apart by its film stock, and information is usually conveyed in duplicate or triplicate, cleverly enough so as not to condescend. But what may be most impressive is the balance of tones. While the events of the flashback story depict the jealousies and tragic misunderstandings that afflict all people, they also bubble with a levity that earns de Heer's film its designation as a comedy-drama. Ten Canoes illuminates the fascinating and eminently fair traditions that have allowed Aboriginal peoples to operate for centuries in a manner essentially unchanged. Moreover, it entertains. Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

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