Necessities of Life is a spare, somber tale set largely in a Canadian tuberculosis sanatorium during the early 1950’s.  It is also yet another stark reminder of the often dubious logic which permeates supposedly “civilized” peoples’ dealings with indigenous ones. 

    Tivii, an Inuit (Eskimo) man, lives with his wife and two daughters on Baffin Island in Canada’s frozen far north.  In this barren landscape, where he has “all that you need in life,” he hunts caribou and geese for his and his family’s survival. 

    When the government undertakes a plan to screen for disease in this remote region, he is separated from his loved ones and deposited in a Catholic facility in Quebec City for treatment, while his wife and children remain alone on the island.  Installed in a ward with patients in various stages of recovery and decline, he is lost and forlorn. 

    No one speaks his native tongue, but all insist on relating instructions and information to him in French, which of course he does not understand.  Concerned for his family and disoriented in this alien environment, he attempts an escape, but as he is getting increasingly ill, he nearly expires on the road and is returned to the institution. 

    Finally, a compassionate nurse locates a bilingual orphan boy, Kaki, able to converse with Tivii; the two form an intimate bond.  Through the boy, the man learns something of the whites’ culture, and Kaki is made familiar with the ways of his own people.

    It is no secret now that during the era portrayed, certain medical procedures had questionable merit or were possibly even detrimental to the patients.  Opening the ward’s windows for increased air circulation, for instance, is considered part of the cure.  Receptacles for the frequently generated expectorant also adjoin each individual’s bed, and doctors peer into these on their rounds to review the contents. 

    It is hard to imagine this is currently considered sound medical practice.  At one point, Tivii has air injected into his lungs, a tactic intended to dispel the foggy masses within, one would assume.

    Equivalently disconcerting here is the utter disinterest -- aside from that shown by the sole sympathetic nurse -- in addressing the patient’s dismay at his unique circumstances, and his inability to comprehend what is being done to him.  Though the film does not portray the various doctors and officials as outright villains, there is an undeniable degree of arrogance present. 

    That Tivii’s family is able to survive during the prolonged period without him -- two years -- is hardly justification of the policy, and while these efforts may or may not have contained the spread of t.b. in the region, surely the enforced separation could have been handled more appropriately.

    The performances across the board are as subdued and earnest as is the direction by Benoit Pilon.  Natar Ungalaaq, who appeared in the multi-award winning Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner has a quiet dignity and grace in the lead role.  Eveline Gelinas does nice work as the nurse who tries to comprehend this patient’s trying situation.  “The Necessities of Life” was Canada’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2008 Oscars and won several international festival awards that year.★★★½☆☆ -- Alex Roberts

    The Necessities of Life is available all month on IFC On Demand.

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