Where Eskimos Live
Where Eskimos Live
| 11 January 2002 (USA)
Where Eskimos Live Trailers

Sharkey, part of the sinister world of child trade, picks up Vlado, an orphan of war, dreaming of freedom and a better life. They embark upon a strange and enlightening journey through war torn Bosnia. As they struggle to get out of the country and fight to stay alive, they find a special love and compassion from which emerges their ultimate moral and spiritual redemption.

Reviews
Lancoor

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

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Glucedee

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

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Aedonerre

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

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Ortiz

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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sixpence1106

I generally stay away from war movies. Its hard for me have to watch what people have to endure on a daily basis. It is especially hard to have to think about all the children out there who are orphans because of it. That is the basis of the movie. Sharkey has papers to get a 9 yrs old boy out of the country, so he searches for a boy that fits the profile. He runs into a gang of orphans who banned together to take care of each other. The boy who designated himself the leader will only let him take a grown boy with learning disabilities. As Sharkey continues on his quest, a young boy sneaks away from the group to see if Sharkey will take him. He is the right age, so Sharkey sets off with the boy. This is the story of their journey of running into other gangs, road blocks, dodging gun fire and other dangers. When he gets to his destination, he wonders if the boy is in just as much danger. He has to figure out how to get him out of that situation. It was a good movie, depressing and disturbing at times. But it was made very well and the acting by Sharkey and Vlado was wonderful. I am sure it did a good job of realistically depicting the horrors of war.

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km004a5534

Let me say right off that this is a wonderful movie and will hear no criticism of it. It is a movie about hope and desperation; about exploitation and trust; about adversity bringing out the best in some, but the worst in others; and about love springing up in the most unlikely of situations.Sharkey (Bob Hoskins) is a fraud, a con-man, a man prepared to exploit children rendered desperate by the diabolical realities of war. Vlado (Sergiusz Zymelka) is one such child, a street kid living rough, forced to survive on his wits and surrounded by death, despair and the horrors of war to such an extent that he is hardened by it all and his survival instincts have totally taken over. When Vlado, desperate to escape to a normal life, willingly becomes Sharkey's meal-ticket, his youthful exuberance, joy of life and practical common sense start to break down stone-clad casing surrounding the man's heart. As adversity pulls them closer together, a growing bond between this unlikely pair starts to strengthen. But will this bond eventually break both of their hearts, or will it prove to be their ultimate salvation? Bob Hoskins was terrific in an unaccustomed role. But Sergiusz Zymelka was a revelation. His performance was nothing short of sensational for one so young. His performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination. One has to wonder why a young actor with this much talent is playing small parts on television in his native Poland, when casting agents from around the world ought to be knocking his door down! Ten out of ten for the movie. The rating for Sergiusz Zymelka is right off the scale. Top ten all-time child actor performance for me.

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Juni78ukr

I caught this film yesterday on cable TV channel. Though it wasn't about eskimos it was surprisingly very good. So I was pleasantly surprised watching this touching and realistic drama about recent Balkan war. Well, it can be any of modern war - war it's a horrible thing wherever it happens.I don't like tell many words about the plot but because this film isn't famous it worth several lines. It's a 1995, in former Yugoslavia, at the height of the war. Bob Hoskins (only one Anon-Polish actor in the movie) played Sharkey, who wants for some reason get a kid (perfectly played by young polish talent Sergiusz Zymelka) out of a war torn country. Everywhere is anarchy, brigandage and marauding. Man's life worth simply nothing. For young orphan Vlado Sharkey it's the only chance for escaping from this nightmare. But for this they must travel hundreds miles through many obstacles. At the time of this journey we learn more about two main characters. All scenes through the agonizing country were perfectly shot and looked incredibly powerful and realistic. Also I found story didn't so forced like in some others modern war films (though it also wasn't flawless here). Cinematography was almost perfect, also worth to mention the very good soundtrack.Overall, I found Where Eskimos Live very good for such small-budgeted production. So, if you get a chance I recommend to all people check it out.My grade 8,6 or A-. Thanks for reading and sorry for my bad English.

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redpanda

This film easily ranks as one of the worst movies I have ever seen! And I don't mean that in a "so-bad-it's-almost-good" kind of way. The nicest thing I can say about it was that it was well-intentioned. The plot was embarrassingly amateurish, and relied on several bizarre coincidences. For example, the entire premise (and hence the title) rests on the fact that the boy, Vlado, who has been orphaned in the Bosnian conflict, dreams of escaping to Norway, because that's "where Eskimos live". But, inexplicably, Bob Hoskins' character, Sharkey (who is supposed to be Polish) introduces himself to Vlado by saying he comes from Norway. This is never explained, but we are meant to accept that Vlado somehow trusts Sharkey, because he says he Norwegian. What's also inexplicable is just how bad Bob Hoskins (sublime in films like "Felicia's Journey") is in this film. He didn't phone in his performance - he asked a casual acquaintance to email it for him. Hoskins' accent veered from Cockney to very fake-sounding upper-crust British, to very fake-sounding sort-of Polish. Then he just gave up and grunted like a dyspeptic bear. But the other actors weren't any better. If you want to see a good film about the Bosnian conflict, try "Cabaret Balkan" or "No Man's Land". Just don't waste any time or money trying to get through "Where Eskimos Live".

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