Edge of the Knife Film Difficulty Ranking: 3
If you’re a horror fan or someone who loves languages, check out this film. Edge of the Knife offers horror fans something different and film fans an opportunity to see the first film shot with a Haida cast, speaking Haida, on Haida land.
From: Canada, North America
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon
Next: Antichrist, The Revenant, Tanna
Why Watch Edge of the Knife?
- If you’re a supporter of linguistic preservation – it’s a film shot in a language (Haida) that only 20 people in the world speak.
- Follow the Haida story of the traumatized and stranded man transformed to Gaagiixiid, the wildman.
- For a calm alternative to your usual horror film.
- If you liked the craziness of Lars von Trier’s Antichrist
The Breakdown
Edge of the Knife starts with an aerial shot which rises up above a sea inlet in the Canadian wilderness. It emphasizes how far we are away from most life – if something goes wrong here, no one will know.
The Canadian wilderness is followed by shots of a carved wooden mask burning on an open fire followed by a man half covered in animal skin clothing running wildly through the forest. It’s not clear what he’s running from, but juxtaposed with the image of the mask burning on the fire, the symbols represent that he’s losing touch with his culture and people.
From here the film jumps back to the past. We meet two groups of Haida people welcoming each other after a few months apart. There’s a family get together where two friends, Adiitsʹii (the running man from the opening) and Kwa are happily reunited. However, things quickly turn sour when Adiits’ii disappears with Kwa’s son to go fishing in dangerous waters for the black cod that Adiits’ii desires.
When Kwa finds his son lying motionless on the beach the next morning, Adiits’ii is nowhere to be found. We find him running wildly into the forest.
A Different Approach to Horror
Edge of the Knife is based on the Haida story of the traumatized man transformed to Gaagiixiid, the wildman. In this case, Adiits’ii is the traumatized man, who becomes feral after he leaves his best friend’s son for dead in his failed search for black cod.
You’ll recognize some elements in Edge of the Knife from the typical horror film. There’s shots from Adiits’ii’s perspective as he watches his family from behind the bushes and there’s also shots of Adiits’ii descending into madness – two things that wouldn’t be out of place in your typical horror film.
However, the typical horror tropes end there. Firstly, unusual for a horror film, no one is scared even when they’re confronting the terrifying wild version of Adiits’ii. No one is surprised that he’s still alive (even though they haven’t seen him for a year), and they even expect to see him again. Secondly, they seem to know what’s wrong with him (he’s become ‘the wildman’) and calmly go about exorcising him. They make everything seem normal when it clearly is not. It’s a horror, but the calm treatment of the crazed Adiits’ii means that we’re never scared of him, just scared by his rapid descent into madness.
What to Watch Next?
For another film featuring people that descend into madness in the wild, check out Lars von Trier’s Antichrist. Be warned, it’s not for the faint hearted.
If you’re looking for more films set in the Canadian wilderness in the 1800’s check out the tremendously shot The Revenant.
You could also check out Tanna from Vanuatu which also features family rivalry within an indigenous community. However, expect to see the misty forests and lakes of Canada switched for the humid rainforest.
Or if you’re looking for more Indigenous film from Canada, browse the NFB catalogue of free indigenous films and take your pick.
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