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.

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.

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.

This is a successfully staged and culturally important movie, its just not very entertaining.

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.

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.

A really well made, shot and edited story/film. The use of black & white vs colour to differentiate between eras is great and it's nice to see authentic Aboriginal language being used - obviously aided greatly by David Gulpilil's great narration. The cinematography of Arnhem Land is amazing, but at it's core, it's a nice story about patience and being careful what you wish for! A very engaging and enjoyable piece of Australian cinema.

Ten Canoes is a beautifully shot Australian film although it does drag on for a bit

Set in the Northern Territories, the story is about someone telling a story about a time when he told a story to teach a lesson -- an interesting approach to capture oral literacy and an underrepresented culture,without being a documentary.

A wonderfully gripping Aboriginal tale. This film is an Australian masterpiece. These actors are Australia's best but least known showing that being a star means nothing. Worldwide nobody tells a story like the Aboriginals. This is a must-see, you won't regret it

Best Australian film I have ever seen.

Don't know how I missed this one. Beautiful dream like cinematography and quite funny in parts. Some may find it too slow though

Rolf de Heer beautifully captures Aboriginal customs and traditional lifestyle stunningly framed within the Australian landscape. De Heer's sensitivity is continuously apparent. David Gulpilil narrates the story with subtle humour. Well worth watching!

Superb Australian film by the director of the stupendous 'Bad Boy Bubby'. This is a million miles away from that but just as good - the narrative devices reminded me of 'Rashomon' at times but this is a truly unique film experience. Highly recommended for movie lovers and students of archetypal storytelling.

In my all time top ten...spearing a man whilst taking a shit, genius!

Alas a look at life through the eyes of someone from a different culture. Many of the ethnographic films used are often presented in the format of "look at the friendly natives." There are exceptions, to be sure but over the years in the face of the absence of good ethnographic films, I've come to rely on good commercial films with a solid ethnographic content. Now, being a film buff as well as a social scientist, I've seen a lot of films. And, to be sure, there are some stinkers, e.g., overly romanticized or historically distorted portrayals of people in some cases, and sacrificed ethnographic facts in the spirit of "making a good story," in others. But, every once in a while a real gem comes along. Ten Canoes is such a film. The presentation and setting is authentic and the actors are all aboriginal Australians. The greatly talented David Gulpilil is joined by his son, Jamie and a crew of very talented and energetic Native Australians. The tale, based on Australian cultural lore is simple yet profound in the telling. The acting is subtle and devoid of Western theatrics. As a commercial film with a solid depiction of something from the multiplex cultures of Native Australian Aborigines, it is delightful to watch and fascinating to observe these people in the act of being themselves.

Great picture. Multi-layered visual and aural gem.

Anything featuring David Gulpill is bound to be good, and this is fabulous showing the true life and humour of Australia's indigenous. In the words of David himself: "This is a good story, 'ey".

It sounded really interesting so I had to watch it.. it fell short on my expectations.. kind of boring.

Unique. Brilliant made.