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Who is Norman Winther ?
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I just saw the movie The Last Trapper last night and thought I'd get a little background on the lead actor, who apparently plays himself.
Other than that and that the Native lady is his real life wife, I"ve been unable to find anything.
Plots a little thin in places, but the scenery is fabulous. I think that big bear " Alley Oop" comes from the Innisfail wildlife Park. Hell, even the wolves have names. Big Grin
Grizz


Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal. John E Pfeiffer, The Emergence of Man

Those who can't skin, can hold a leg. Abraham Lincoln

Only one war at a time. Abe Again.
 
Posts: 4211 | Location: Alta. Canada | Registered: 06 November 2002Reply With Quote
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I saw it on the dish menu but didn't record it, is it worth watching?
 
Posts: 256 | Location: Fort Nelson, BC, Canada | Registered: 04 February 2005Reply With Quote
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From google....

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117925885.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

The Last Trapper
Le Dernier Trappeur (France-Canada-Germany-Italy-Switzerland)
By LISA NESSELSONA TFM Distribution release of a Jean-Pierre Bailly presentation of an MCY, TF1 Cinema (France)/National Film Office of Canada (Canada)/Pandora Film Produktion (Germany)/Mikado (Italy)/Les Prods. Jean Marc Henchoz (Switzerland) production, with participation of Canal Plus. (International sales: TF1 Intl., Paris.) Produced by Bailly. Directed, written by Nicolas Vanier.

With: Norman Winther, May Loo, Alex Van Bibber.

The call of the wild is routed through the switchboard of gorgeous filmmaking in "The Last Trapper," a docu-style reenactment of several seasons in the life of Canadian trapper Norman Winther. Vet extreme explorer and nature filmer Nicolas Vanier uses the crisp clean air and phenomenal light of the Canadian Yukon to fill the widescreen frame with scenery that will make many an urban viewer long to strap on snowshoes and live off the land with formidable grizzlies, handsome wolves, majestic moose and cute beavers. Pic opened strongly in Gaul mid-December, in a wide 500-print release.
Crinkly-faced Norman was born in the Rockies fiftysomething years ago and, via voice-over, speaks in plain language of how much he loves the healthy outdoor life of hunting and trapping that has always provided his livelihood. But logging operations, which destroy vital habitat, are making it increasingly difficult to find the animals whose pelts he sells in the nearest town, Dawson.

With its unpaved, dirt main street, classic saloon (including three women in petticoats doing the can-can) and general store, Dawson is a five-to-seven day trip by horse or dog sled from Norman's cozy log cabin. He shares his cabin with his companion of 15 years, an Indian woman whose complicity with him and nature is quietly obvious.

Because his needs and pleasures are so basic, Norman's sorrow is heartbreaking when his lead husky, Nanook, is hit by a car in Dawson. A merchant gives him a 10-month-old racing pup, Apache, whom Norman is reluctant to believe will ever be a good sled dog. But Norman's Indian companion thinks Apache has potential and, sure enough, when Norman's sled falls through the ice while crossing a quasi-frozen lake, it's young Apache who saves his life.

Slightly stiff but cumulatively endearing narration is a sort of Wilderness Survival 101 ("people should never have lost contact with nature"; "take away but don't endanger -- that's the trapper's motto") that would be tiresome were it not illustrated with such breathtaking natural settings. Whether maneuvering his canoe through warm-weather canyons where bears catch fish in their teeth, or laying traps in unfamiliar snow-covered terrain at 40 degrees below zero, Norman radiates an appealing can-do mixture of manliness and sensitivity.

The prospect of having to give up the wilderness for the city -- maybe next year, maybe the year after -- hangs over Norman's head. Although the loggers are only mentioned once or twice, viewers soon want to wag their fingers at the unseen industrial goons who dare to upset the symbiosis at work in the dwindling wild.

Varied score by Krishna Levy is as pleasing as the imagery. Closing credits imply that the Northern Lights may have been given an artificial boost in post-production, but it's not every film that boasts a "sub-zero safety consultant."

Camera (color, widscreen), Thierry Machado; editor, Yves Chaput; music, Krishna Levy; sound (Dolby), Emmanuel Hachette; assistant director, Philippe Basadouli. Reviewed at UGC Orient Express, Paris, Jan. 10, 2005. Running time: 100 MIN.

______________________


THE LAST TRAPPER *
Starring Norman Winther, May Loo. Written and directed by Nicholas Vanier. (G) 101 min. Opens Mar 17

The Last Trapper is a movie about a man who is in tune with nature; we know this because he tells us so, many times. The man is Norman Winther, a real-deal mountain man who lives in a cabin high in the Yukon woods with his wife and a team of sled dogs. Any resemblances to Claire Denis' The Intruder end here, but it's an epic shame that Nicholas Vanier's NFB-abetted boondoggle, which is postcard-pretty and truly wretched, gets a local release this week, while Denis' film, which is genuinely beautiful and brilliant, didn't and probably never will.

But enough about the sublime -- let's return to the ridiculous. The Last Trapper is a pseudo-doc: Winther is playing himself, and his observations about evil logging companies and the great circle of life (he apologizes to every animal he kills) seem authentic enough. This, of course, raises the question: why not just make a documentary? Vanier's decision to put this awkward non-actor through a series of dramatic paces -- his favourite dog gets hit by a car in a scene that recalls Kermit's near-fatal hit and run in The Muppets Take Manhattan; later on, another canine saves him after he falls through some ice -- is inexplicable, as is his liberal use of Leonard Cohen music to underscore montages of dogs running through the snow. ADAM NAYMAN



 
Posts: 7123 | Location: The Rock (southern V.I.) | Registered: 27 February 2001Reply With Quote
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Thanks Canuck, but I was hoping to find some insight into the actor and the film, since it was made with the participation of The World Wildlife fund and the National Film Board, read yours and mine tax dollars.
The scenery is the highlight of the film, which appears to be made to pander to the misconceptions Europeans have of Canada. What else can you say, when very late model vehicles drive down the streets of Dawson and this guy paddles around in a birch bark canoe, lighting his quickie built cabin with candles and kerosene Lanterns. Big Grin And let's not forget that bundle of shiny new traps hanging on the wall. My first clue that all was nor as it was presented was when Norman[speaking of the Yukon] claimed that he was born and spent all his life in the "Rockies" ,which geographically end in nortern B.C. He then goes on to make all kinds of grandiose statements thruout the film. I suspect, "Norman Winther" is some German "Western" freak, trying to impress his countrymen, given the absense of any biographical data.
Grizz


Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal. John E Pfeiffer, The Emergence of Man

Those who can't skin, can hold a leg. Abraham Lincoln

Only one war at a time. Abe Again.
 
Posts: 4211 | Location: Alta. Canada | Registered: 06 November 2002Reply With Quote
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