Based on an Inuit story, this is a tale about how a young girl learns by confronting natural forces in a magical world and thus reaching a new stage in her life. So this is a coming-of-age story that showcases Inuit culture in the lineage of the cinematic tradition established by Nanook of the North. Here the young heroine faces up to a kind of bogeyman whose magical powers enable him to turn from a dwarf into a giant. The whole mythological world of another culture is shared, with restrained use of elements and the deployment of colours in keeping with the pristine whiteness of polar landscapes. The fantastical quality of the magical being mentioned in the film’s title is offset by a documentary soundtrack featuring bird cries, footsteps in the snow and a wide range of sounds including winds and other elements of the polar ecosystem. Viewers are thus fully immersed in an unfamiliar environment.
The story unfolds without any words; so every movement of every character has real meaning. The two-dimensional imagery is made up mostly of artwork and colours that mesh smoothly and elegantly in a satisfying triumph of animation.
