Nicole
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Jakoba
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
marieinkpen
this film is far from perfect but any quibbles don't really amount to much, which is odd because the main quibble is that bob hoskins isn't very good in it. in some ways it doesn't really matter because the young boy playing his co-star is absolutely exceptional. bob hoskins' accent changes every single time he opens his mouth - at first i thought he was just doing a very embarrassing eastern European voice, then it went to his usual geezerish tones, at times he sounded like he was going to elocution lessons, and then there was the bearish grunts. also, his acting in the scene where he thinks he is going to be shot as a spy is dire - his facial expressions just looked like he'd been served with some soggy cucumber sandwiches at a tea party. the other quibble is that occasionally the music tries to milk an emotion when direction is really not needed, although on the whole the music is great. on the plus side is the child actor, & some awful war scenes of what it is like for the average person caught up in a war, scenes of victims, and the concern that how the hell can a child settle back into a normal existence who has witnessed such horror and lived this life
Andreas Niedermayer
Where Eskimos Live caught my heart. It made me laugh and cry. It is a stunning accomplishment, showing the cruelties of war bluntly and without glossing over the facts of inhumanity and destruction. It is a simple but very convincing movie, centering around two very different characters and how they learn to trust and love each other in the sinister world of death, child trade and deceit.Sharkey (Bob Hoskins) is an obscure man who travels around war-torn Bosnia in 1995. He claims to be a caseworker for UNICEF, a camouflage he makes use of to get orphaned boys for a Russian mafia syndicate in Poland. He is in his fifties, apparently rough and callous; a loner always chasing an opportunity to make as much money as possible. Vlado (Sergiusz Zymelka) is a nine-year-old boy, orphaned by the war and now a member of a gang of pre-teen hoodlums who fool the military and steal food whenever they get a chance.After Sharkey's unlucky encounter with a colonel, who now claims him responsible for the death of his daughter and is hard on his heels, he meets Vlado's gang. Eventually, the young boy follows him, as Sharkey pretends coming from Norway – that is where Eskimos live, and Vlado always wanted to go there. So the two of them walk off, heading for the border. Of course their journey is not as smoothly as Sharkey would have preferred it to be; they have to survive various dangerous adventures, in the course of which they gradually grow quite close. Having dealt with the colonel and managed to leave Bosnia, Sharkey and Vlado arrive in Poland. Now they have to face the Russians, which means new challenges. Sharkey's cunning deceit almost proves too daring, but again they manage to survive.The movie is set and shot entirely on locations in Bosnia and Poland. The setting – both time and place – is the story's backbone. Thus it is a movie dealing with two characters and how they manage to survive amidst death and havoc in a war-torn country. The cruelties of war are shown in appalling images, visualized in all their crushing brutality and atrocity. Sharky and Vlado are surrounded by these images, by death and despair. They encounter deserters who are shot to death at a checkpoint on the street; they have to run for their lives when shells explode in their vicinity; they find piles of dead corpses, shot to death and terribly deformed. They are surrounded by these images and emotionally affected in a subtle but pervasive way, which leads to the establishment of an emotional bond between them that would have never attained its honesty and depth if it had not been for the hostile environment that makes them rely on each other.The acting performances of the two protagonists are outstanding. Sergiusz Zymelka in particular delivers so genuine scenes that I was moved to tears occasionally. His handsome appearance, his vivid and bright eyes, his cleverness and his disarming charm make him shine. The scene when Sharky attempts to make a photograph of the boy for a new passport features an hilarious Vlado who makes faces and displays his childish gaiety. Apart from that I deeply appreciate his knowledge of English, which is remarkably well-developed for a boy his age.Where Eskimos Live is a road movie; it lives by individual sequences that define its quality. The scene after the shooting of the two deserters is just awesome, so natural and authentic that I could almost feel the emotional scars inflicted in Sharky and Vlado. They lie down in the grass and scream – they have just escaped death, and it is moving how Vlado makes Sharkey release his pent-up emotions.This movie is never stereotypical or corny. It tells the story of one man who was looking for money but rather found something that was worth much more – a boy who pins all his hopes on him, a boy who makes him a better person, and, above all, a boy who loves him. The movie won various awards, giving ample evidence for its essential quality. It is brutal, sometimes vulgar and thus hard to digest for young children, but flawless and never awkward. Honest authenticity and a wonderful father-son relationship make this low budget production a more than worthwhile experience that shows how two characters undergo challenges and changes, which strengthens their bond and deepens their love.
neiljones1981
Every once in a while, a movie comes along that you'll just fall in love with despite having never heard of it previously. I discovered this gem of a movie when I was looking for items to add to my online DVD rental list. One viewing later and I loved it, in fact for the whole time I had this DVD (about ten days IIRC) I think I watched it at least half a dozen times.Set in 1995 in war-torn Bosnia, a man called Sharkey sets out to find a small boy to take out of the country for child trade purposes. This small boy turns out to be Vlado Petric, an orphan of the conflict and with hardened survival instincts. Vlado has a heart of gold, being overly protective towards a member of his gang who is regularly pushed around by the others, but this kid isn't totally selfless, and puts himself forward to go with Sharkey to leave Bosnia but Vlado really wants to go to Norway where the Eskimos live.The outbound trip is one fraught with peril, realisation and hope. Sharkey is a man on a mission, just doing his job. Vlado is just a boy and his being a boy (by his actions) initially irritates Sharkey but there is a bond forming between the pair. This doesn't stop them having a huge argument though. The scene where Vlado single handily saves Sharkey from being shot dead cements their bond, and is one of the highlights of the movie.Bob Hoskins stars in this movie, although it's always been kind of hard to take him seriously in any acting role ever after you've seen him in Super Mario Brothers in a plumber's outfit. Don't even go there. Hoskins acts very well here, a good solid performance.Sergiusz Zymelka steals the entire show for me. A great little Polish child actor who's capable of handling anything that this movie can throw at him and a lot more to boot. The performance is virtually flawless from Sergiusz but then the role demands it really. Nevertheless, he can act Bob Hoskins off the screen any day (a feat which isn't really all that difficult IMO).In short - great movie, worth watching, great acting, good solid drama with a spot of action and a sense of "all will be right with the world one day" about it.
arric
Perhaps it was because I had missed two other movies because the Sundance volunteers couldn't give directions to save their lives (only partially kidding, I know there were some people there who were doing great work), but when I finally got to actually see a movie at this year's Festival I was excited to begin with. But being the cynical b***ard that I am that excitement would have worn off if the movie I was watching would have sucked. Luckily, it didn't.Expecting a semi-documentary on grainy film focusing in on igloos, I was surprised to see a surly Bob Hoskins fill the screen. In your typical An-American-passport-will-get-you-through-almost-anything sort of way this movie progressed rather nicely. (What's with movies where the local "police" feel free to take passports? e.g. The Mexican and this movie) What are they going to do with them anyway?)It tells a story that is not so heartwarming when you find out certain things about Hoskins character but he does a nice 180. How he finds the little fella he is escorting across the border after they separate is a slight suspension of disbelief but was done in a charming enough way that I was willing to do so.A little harder to believe was the pride of the little boy in some scenes. When give the ability to get out of his war-torn country he definitely displays some spunk that I don't know would still be present in a small child in the middle of the war. But children and movies surprise us all the time.Check this out when you get a chance.
