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Ten Canoes

Play trailer Poster for Ten Canoes Released May 25, 2007 1h 31m Adventure Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
98% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Presenting a tale within a tale, this Australian film follows Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil), a young aboriginal warrior, as he wanders the wilderness hunting for eggs. Dayindi hears a story told by his brother Minygululu (Peter Minygululu), which echoes his own situation. A man who lusts after his brother's wife, the character in the tale kills a member of another tribe and faces dire consequences, with the story's ending reverberating in Dayindi's own life.
Ten Canoes

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Ten Canoes combines adventure, comedy, and anthropology to explore an Aborigine folk tale both fallibly human and legendary. Helmer Rolf de Heer depicts a barely represented oral tradition with a clean style.

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Critics Reviews

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Luke Buckmaster Guardian Both ethnographic document and high-spirited flight of whimsy: a curious mixture of entertainment and anthropology. Jan 2, 2016 Full Review Ben Walters Time Out Rated: 5/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Ben Kenigsberg Time Out Rated: 3/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) The raw power of the story - rife with myth, magic and misadventure - blends brilliantly with an earthy, universally appealing sense of humour. Rated: 4.5/5 Nov 17, 2020 Full Review Keeva Stratton Rescu (Australia) A beautifully told story, which captures indigenous Australia with warmth and humour. Sep 15, 2017 Full Review Mike Scott Times-Picayune A unique and entertaining blend of anthropology and cinema. Rated: 3/4 Jul 24, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Incredible insight into an incredible world lost. The beauty of arnhem land and the perfectly paced story takes us into a world whitefellas don't often see. It has taken a long time for me to come to this story. I am so grateful to finally see it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/20/25 Full Review Dylan S Fun, familiar, and an outstanding achievement in Aboriginal cinema. The non-linear storytelling may turn some viewers away, yet I thought this film was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish thanks to the unique characters, humor, and insightful narration from David Gulpilil. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/18/24 Full Review Audience Member A simple tale for the ages told with a Hemingway simplicity of language. The filming and the old world way of telling a classic tale works well. Short film but fun in its own way even if not too proud. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review zed b This is a successfully staged and culturally important movie, its just not very entertaining. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member With a documentary look and a film sat in Australia's northern territories we are up for something different. A small tribe of Aboriginies are prepairing their canoes for some duck hunting. At the same time there are some dating discussions and other family issues to take care of. Some guys with a bigger rep in the tribe also has their problems. Honey problems among others. When another tribe gets into the film, things turn more dramatic and violent and we are in the mix of the two stories. Everything is told by David Gulpilil, an actor that did so well in "Charlie's Country" a few years ago. Lovely shot film with an original storytelling. At the same time this film is very slow and striaght up boring stuff for most of it's playtime. As more things happen after a while, I'm already so bored that I really don't care much. It keeps fading from black to colors and back, it's nice but I tire of it too as it's repeated so many times. Original, different, flat and boring. 4 out of 10 canoes. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review dustin d Ten Canoes brings Aborigine folklore to life in a way that is engaging and entertaining. It also does a great job bringing to life precolonial Australian history. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Ten Canoes

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Cast & Crew

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Rolf de Heer

Director

Peter Djigirr

Director

David Gulpilil

Narrator

Jamie Gulpilil

Actor

Peter Minygululu

Actor

Crusoe Kurddal

Actor

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Movie Info

Synopsis Presenting a tale within a tale, this Australian film follows Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil), a young aboriginal warrior, as he wanders the wilderness hunting for eggs. Dayindi hears a story told by his brother Minygululu (Peter Minygululu), which echoes his own situation. A man who lusts after his brother's wife, the character in the tale kills a member of another tribe and faces dire consequences, with the story's ending reverberating in Dayindi's own life.
Director
Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr
Producer
Rolf de Heer, Julie Ryan
Screenwriter
Rolf de Heer
Distributor
Palm Pictures
Production Co
Fandango, Vertigo Productions Pty. Ltd.
Genre
Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 25, 2007, Limited
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 25, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA)
$278.0K
Runtime
1h 31m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)