Search  for anything...
Ten

Ten Canoes [DVD]

  • Based on 107 reviews
Condition: Used - Acceptable
Checking for product changes

Buy Now, Pay Later


As low as $2 / mo
  • – 4-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.

Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, PayTomorrow, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Selected Option

Free shipping on this product

This item is eligible for return within 30 days of receipt

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.


Availability: Only 1 left in stock, order soon!
Fulfilled by Service First Media

Arrives Monday, Jun 2
Order within 6 hours and 59 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Format: DVD September 25, 2007


Description

Bonus Features: Balanda and the Bark Canoes: The Making of Ten Canoes (12min) Aerial Map of Arnhem Land Interview with Peter Djigirr Interview with Director Rolf de Heer Photo Gallery: Thomson Photographs Revisited US Theatrical Trailer Study Guide (DVD-Rom) Review Ten Canoes, based on an ancient story from the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land, is just plain staggering. From first frame to last, it has a shimmering beauty, shifting easily between rich colour and luminous black and white, in a landscape that makes you feel humble, but its power goes deeper than that. Part of the reason that black culture remains so mysterious to white Australia is that we have no place within it, no vantage point. We're shut out, often with that sullen stubbornness that Aboriginal Australia has used for more than 200 years as the final - sometimes the only - form of resistance. Many white filmmakers have tried to penetrate it, with limited success, but it's rarely seemed totally convincing. Black filmmakers aren't necessarily able to get further inside, especially when the story concerns traditional culture. The result is that most Australian films about Aboriginal life have a distinctly furrowed brow, whether made by black or white directors. They're always about the "problem" of black Australia, rather than the more basic questions of who people are. Aborigines can never really just "be" in our (white) films; they're always a threat, an accusation, a regret or an ideal. There's not much chance for a real engagement when white guilt runs smack into black reluctance to reveal the private self. Ten Canoes leaps over all that in a single bound, with unlimited optimism. Rolf de Heer, probably our most adventurous filmmaker, has been through the guilt and accusation with The Tracker, a brooding and violent film in which he established a strong relationship with actor David Gulpilil. Ten Canoes is de Heer's attempt to get closer to traditional culture, and make a film that's a real collaboration, based on respect. I don't know what it took to achieve, but there's never been an Australian film quite like it. It's as if the people of Ramingining decided to give us all a gift, by letting us inside. We get a vantage point and the impact is extraordinary. The idea came from Gulpilil. De Heer has said that they had not yet decided what story to tell when Gulpilil told him: "We need 10 canoes." He then showed de Heer a photograph from legendary anthropologist Donald Thomson's 1936-37 expedition to eastern Arnhem Land, depicting a group of 10 men in canoes hunting for goose eggs in a swamp. De Heer says he took one look at the photo and agreed - they would need 10 canoes. --smh.com Anthropology and entertainment are marvelously married in Rolf de Heer's "Ten Canoes." The first feature in an Australian Aboriginal language feels authentic to the core as it tells a cautionary tale set 1,000 years ago. Sticking closely to the convoluted patterns of Aboriginal oral history, pic is rendered accessible by the English narration of a storyteller who jovially assumes the role of cultural tour guide. World preemed at the Adelaide Arts Festival, "Ten Canoes" looks set for a prestige fest passage and wide arthouse exposure. Local release is skedded for June 1. A venture into the challenging physical and emotional environments that have become de Heer's trademark, "Ten Canoes" reps another distinctive outing for the helmer of "The Quiet Room" (1995), "Dance Me to My Song" (1998) and "Alexandra's Project" (2003). For this multilayered morality play, de Heer has collaborated with the Ramingining Aboriginal community with the goal of representing a spoken art form dating back long before the continent's recorded history. In several respects, pic is similar to the Canadian Inuit feature, "Atanarjuat the Fast Runner" (2003), another first-of-its-kind native pic. Over glorious aerial shots of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, an eloquent narration defines the deep spiritual connection between the land and its inhabitants. Promising "a story like you've never seen before," the offscreen Storyteller (Aussie screen favorite David Gulpilil, billed here as David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu) intones the staple "once upon a time in a land far, far away," then chuckles and says, "I'm only joking." Funny ploy allows auds to click into a different groove of tale-telling. Framing device shot in B&W -- inspired by photographs of anthropologist Donald Thomson in the mid-1930s -- is a canoe-building expedition led by old Minygululu (Peter Minygululu). Minygululu is aware that Dayindi (Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu, son of David Gulpilil) has designs on the youngest of Minygululu's three wives and decides to set the youngster straight. Action switches to color as the old man recalls a tale about warrior Ridjimiraril (Crusoe Kurddal), whose younger brother, Yeeralparil (also Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu), desired one of Ridjimiraril's wives. This story is just the tip of a large catalog of backstories, sidestories, detours and digressions, all fleshed out to make the lesson clear. While respect and understanding are uppermost, there's nothing precious about "Ten Canoes." Delightful humor includes various wives giving verbal stick to lazy husbands, the men joking about sexual performance, and a charming running gag about roly-poly elder Birrinbirrin (Richard Birrinbirrin) and his passion for honey. On-screen cast members are all first-timers. They perform wonderfully with little or no clothing (and zero self-consciousness) under de Heer and his indigenous co- director, Peter Djiggir. Gorgeous widescreen lensing by Ian Jones in croc- infested wetlands exudes the other-worldly aura of a Werner Herzog pic without any hint of travelogue. Rest of tech package is first class. --Variety.com

Genre: Drama


Format: AC-3, Dolby, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, DVD, Widescreen


Contributor: Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu, Peter Minygululu, Frances Djulibing, Rolf de Heer, David Gulpilil, Crusoe Kurddal, Sonia Djarrabarlminym, Philip Gudthaykudthay, Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin, Cassandra Malangarri Baker See more


Language: English


Runtime: 1 hour and 32 minutes


Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.781


Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No


MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)


Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.52 x 5.35 x 0.39 inches; 3.68 Ounces


Director ‏ : ‎ Rolf de Heer


Media Format ‏ : ‎ AC-3, Dolby, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, DVD, Widescreen


Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 32 minutes


Release date ‏ : ‎ September 25, 2007


Actors ‏ : ‎ David Gulpilil, Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Minygululu


Subtitles: ‏ ‎ English


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Monday, Jun 2

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • Afterpay Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Financing through Apple Pay
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Top Amazon Reviews


  • fascinating "art" film
Beautiful photography. Very nice way of telling a story taking place in a lost culture. Quiet and not very exciting in the modern world sense of action or dramatic films. I guess these make it an art film. It is not ethnographic in the sense that ethnographic would imply dissecting a culture in terms of the categories of technology, production, kinship, ceremonies, etc. that are the ways in which ethnographers commonly organized their note-taking. It makes a good effort at telling a story from the perspective of these particular aboriginals in a traditional frame of mind. Far, far from the old Mondo Cane anthro-exploitation films!! Other reviewers have given good overall views on the film. I especially appreciated the lengthy "making of" extra. It went into aspects of how difficult it can be to try to make a film with non-Western peoples and still be respectful of their cultural integrity and of them and individuals. I confess that I could not follow all the details, but the general nature of the challenges came through very well. All in all, if you are the sort of film watcher who is interested in people who are different from us in many respects and how they make a go of it, then you may well appreciate this. Watching it with a friend, she said that she was struck that they are not so different from us -- laughing at farts, penis envy (I did not see it that way), joking around, men attracted to women, women attracted to men, mostly cooperating, sometimes fighting, misunderstandings, and so on. I sort of took this for granted, but maybe that would be a value for some viewers. No matter how exotic these aboriginals might seem they are simply people coping with life. With very different lives than ours, granted, in a very different environment -- Australian swamps and forests. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2013 by PJR

  • Aboriginal Magic
"Ten Canoes" is an extraordinary movie about the indigenous Aboriginal natives from the Arnhem region of Australia. Learning is often passed along through instructional story-telling and at the heart of this tale is the story of an unmarried younger brother's lust for for one of the wives of his elder brother. As the men of the tribe hunt for goose eggs in a remote swamp, having to team-build canoes to carry them, they boast about their sexual prowess. The elder brother uses this opportunity to explain what happened to some of their ancestors when a younger brother also coveted an older brother's wife. So, this is a story within a story, filled with mystery, tribal rites, revenge, sorcery, and a beautiful untrammeled background. The bonus features are not to be missed. The movie was 2 years in pre-production and that they managed to make it is almost a miracle. For example as filming was about to start, one of the key actors disappeared; scenes between husbands and wives had to use actual married people and there were cultural norms and relationships that had to be honored. Even the skills required to make the canoes, once the province of every tribesman, had long been forgotten and only one cast member actually knew how to make the canoes (shown in detail as part of the movie). This will be a classic, remembered Australian movie. It is for those who value the unique and unusual, and not typical Hollywood fare. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2009 by R. Crane

  • Picture perfect.
An aboriginal telling of thier own legends. It is wonderfully portrayed and gives an insight into early and present-day aboriginal culture. Don't forget to watch the special feather on the making of the film. I enjoyed every minute and have gone back to watch it numerous times.
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2022 by Keith

  • A Wonderful Adventure to an Unknown Land
This is a wonderful film based on an ancient Aboriginal tale that is interwoven with a story from a 1000 years ago. Though it is in the old indigenous language of the northern Arafura Swamp it is surprisingly warm and funny as the universal humanity of the characters comes through. I hope it comes to the US and gets the attention it deserves. I was fortunate to be able to see it on a plane flying back from my trip to Australia in August 2006. So, even though I saw it on a tiny screen with earphones I was transported to a totally new time and place and completely absorbed in the film. Though the language, the customs and the setting were strange, the human desires, actions, humor and responses were so recognizable. It has a dreamlike quality that weaves a spell of enchantment... Thank you, Qantas, for giving me the opportunity to see this wonderful, special film. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2007 by DCLO

  • A unique and intriguing movie of great beauty.
I personally love this movie! The setting, scenery is stunningly beautiful. This is the first movie ever made spoken entirely in the Aboriginal Language of the characters, and tells a classic Aboriginal tale. It is a beautiful and unique movie, and stars one of David Gulpilils sons.
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2013 by Elizabeth K. Law

  • Life in Australia
I bought this movie because I thought that it would be a good movie to show what life is like for the Aborigines. While it does a great job of showing what life it like for them. It leaves out a lot of the life issues that I thought it would cover. I would only recomend this movie to adults who were interested in how they go egg hunting. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2013 by Paul Clark

  • great film
the film sucks you in, is not overtly political or philosophical. what might it have been like to live as one of the original australians? how might it have felt? the film gives you one detailed and nuanced vision of this. one of my favorites
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2017 by shopping cart

  • Interesting depiction
Be prepared to pay attention. It's a wonderful opportunity to take a cultural adventure down Geographic Lane. I am a fan of David Gulpilil so I was anxious to see him act in a "native" environment different than his own.
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2013 by JoJo

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.