THE NAVIGATOR
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1989 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: For the beauty of its photography and the originality of its concept this fantasy from Australia and New Zealand is the best that has been seen in America for several years. Yet it loses points because of a muddled narrative that leaves the viewer wondering what the story was really all about. Rating: +2.
It is March 1348 in Cumbria. In a small mining village there is the certain knowledge that the Plague is coming. Connor has been gone from the village for three months, much longer than expected, just finding out what is happening in the world. Perhaps the Plague has claimed him. His young brother Griffin waits for his return. And Griffin suffers from enigmatic dreams, perhaps visions, of another world and a mission of faith, perhaps an act of faith so great that God will intercede and protect the village from the onslaught of the Plague. God wants the villagers to dig through the flat disk that is our world and come out on the other side, the Celestial City. There they are to forge a cross and place it on top of the mighty cathedral that commands the Celestial City. When Connor returns with news of just how close the Plague really is, the urgency of the mission becomes obvious. They dig through the disk and find the Celestial City, a city of great wonder, though to our eyes it is just your standard 1988 New Zealand city. Things we have come to live with are to the pilgrims' eyes great sights and great dangers. And so begins their adventure.
Stylistically filmed in black and white and in color, THE NAVIGATOR beautifully re-creates the life in a 14th Century village and a comparable view of life in the 20th Century, though the color photography is much less interesting. It is a story told on many levels, not all of which are comprehensible. The style of story-telling is usually well told with the sort of duality of vision that THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY has. We see the familiar, but we also see it through the eyes of a strange culture. Only at one point does this duality break down into slapstick worthy of a Terry Gilliam.
THE NAVIGATOR is an odd and murky fantasy that seems to be pointing to some deeper meaning that is somewhere beyond view. As a fantasy it edges out even this year's FIELD OF DREAMS for originality of idea. But in the final analysis the film narrative is muddled and the point of this exercise remains unclear. I give it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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