Ten Canoes is that most rare of historical dramas - the prehistorical drama.

90% of movies tell stories from right now...
9% of movies tell stories from the future...
0.9% of movies tell stories from the past century...
0.09% of movies tell stories from the past couple millennia...
0.009% of movies tell stories from the rest of human prehistory...

Kinda odd, considering that last category makes up 99.999% of the entire human existence on Earth. You'd think people'd want to hear stories about their own ancestors -- but no -- for many people this kind of movie is like sitting at your great-aunts looking at shoeboxes full of photos of distant relatives. If you can't envision the stories behind those faces frozen in photo chemistry, then there's no wonder you can't name your own forefathers four generations back. There's probably very little wonder at all...

This story of loyalty, the law, betrayal, and justice could just as easily have been told by Shakespeare or by John Woo in his heyday. It is true...

Yes, this is a rare one -- a story of a thousand years ago, though it could be 10,000. It is in the same genre as the glorious Atanarjuat, and is another well told tale worth listening for...

8 out of 5.