The story takes place in the remote village of Igloolik around 2000 BC. Wixaringitara (Wrong husband), the latest from a famous director Kunuk Zachariastells the story of Caujac (Teresia Mirnak) and Sapa (Angutimarick Haydena), two young people engaged since childhood and approaching adulthood.
After the death of Kaujak's father, a man (Mark Takkaugak) arrives from another village and tries to marry her now widowed mother Nujatut (Liya Panimera). In Sapa's absence, Kaujak is forced to accompany Nujatut to her new family and camp, where three young men are vying for Kaujak's hand in marriage. Upon his return, Sapa sets off on a journey to find his beloved.
A deceptively simple story, “Kunuk” includes supernatural elements that add complexity, such as the Troll (Guillaume Ittuxsaruat Saladin), who lives in the shallow waters near the villages and threatens to abscond with the children, and the Lady of the Mist (Karen Ivalu), a spirit woman shrouded in an unearthly mist who offers guidance to our hero. When Kaujac's father dies in his sleep, Kunuk depicts his demise as a battle with an evil shaman in a blood-red dream world filled with spells of thin black smoke emanating back and forth.
Sometimes the film's budgetary constraints betray these sequences—high-resolution photography doesn't lend itself to low-resolution effects—but they nonetheless add to the film's charm. Wixaringitara. Saladin dons a practical suit coated in a seaweed-like substance to portray a troll, which adds to the creepiness of the character as he chases our characters away from the water and shoreline; however, the suit itself looks, to put it mildly, inexpensive and too obviously similar to a suit.
Although the small ensemble consists of mostly non-professional actors (with the exception of Panimera and Takkaugak), each of them has their own. Aside from the occasional stumble, everyone rises to the occasion, especially Kappianak and Angutimarick, and Panimera shines as the matriarch.
Wixaringitara highlights the beauty of the Arctic, a landscape frozen in time with bright sunshine and endless rocky plains. The ice-covered seas create an otherworldly feel that contrasts with their rugged charm.
Kunuk has once again created something special: a film made for the Inuit, with a story that transcends culture. Given the test of time, it will likely sit alongside his 2001 Canadian classic. Atanarjuat: Fast runner not just as an important film to Inuit culture, but as one of the most unique and special films Canada has to offer.
VIFF 2025 will take place from October 2 to 12. Additional information, including showtimes and tickets, can be found on the festival's website. website.
