imagineNATIVE '18 Film Review - Angelique's Isle

Saul Saint Marie, Ontario in 1845 was a mixture of Ojibway indigenous peoples and French- Canadian fur trappers that lived off the land is a peaceful joyful community. However, the opportunities for trapping was scarce and treasure hunters from across the river in the U.S. came into the community during the copper rush of '45 looking for crews to go out find rich deposits and stake their claims. Under these circumstances Angelique (Julia Jones) who is very close to her traditional grandmother Green thunderbird (Tantoo Cardinal) and new husband Charlie (Charlie Carrick) set out on a crew with a Detroit business man Cyrus Mendenhall (Aden Young) in search of Copper Ore. Landing on Isle Royale on Lake Superior near Thunder Bay they find a whole boulder full that is too large to move. Charlie agrees to stay and protect the claim until the Americans can raise the funds back home to return with the equipment to move the find. Angelique demands to stay with her husband. The stay that was promised to be two weeks turns out to be the entire Northern Ontario winter leaving the pair to scrounge for food against the harsh elements on a barren island that they arrived on with summer clothing.

Co-directors Michelle Derosier and Marie Helene Cousineau detail Angelique & Charlie slow descent from happy newlyweds alone on their own paradise to desperate freezing, hallucinating beings eating bark and potentially becoming a threat to each other. The battle in Angelique's mind is particularly intriguing. Her history in residential schools that forced Christianity upon her commanding that she loses her traditional ways then the emergence of the traditions under the dire conditions that help her to survive. Charlie, on the other hand, feels first like a fool for trusting the Americans, then becomes despondent with an inability to hunt soon followed by the loss of desire to even get out of the bed in the abandoned cabin they find on the land. 

Julia Jones is very effective as Angelique. She is 18 at the time of her marriage, very respectful of her grandmother but a devoted Christian woman wanting to make her own decisions. She is the first to become wary of the Americans even pleading with Charles not to tell the Americans about the find on the island but fiercely loyal  demands to stay with her husband despite her intuition as it's the right thing to do. Her move toward the spiritual, traditional ways is a sharp turn as she calls on the skills embedded in her needed to survive. Charlie Carrick's Charlie is a basic trusting, loving soul who loves the French Voyageur tradition and practices no less that Angelique affinity to her Ojibway ones. He has his peoples names for the constellations, loves his wife dearly alongside his way of life. 

Angelique's Isle is an important story in Canadian History. An 18-year-old woman manages to survive the harsh Lake Superior, Northern Ontario winter on an island without food or any real expectation of being rescued. It's a story of three cultures crossing with the sophisticated one demeaning and taking advantage of the other too in search of profit and fortune. The film is well shot and paced presenting the facts evenly in a package that I can recommend. 

*** Out of 4

Angelique's Isle | Michelle Derosier / Marie-Helene Cousineau | Canada | 2018 | 90 Minutes. 

Tags: Isle Royale, Lake Superior, Fort William, Ojibway, Voyageur, Copper Ore, Copper Rush, Bark, Rabbit, Canoe, Rice.