The Necessities of Life

2008 | 102 minutes | 7.3 ★ (12)

The Necessities of Life
  • Overview

    In 1952, an Inuit hunter named Tivii with tuberculosis leaves his northern home and family to go recuperate at a sanatorium in Quebec City. Uprooted, far from his loved ones, unable to speak French and faced with a completely alien world, he becomes despondent. When he refuses to eat and expresses a wish to die, his nurse, Carole, comes to the realization that Tivii's illness is not the most serious threat to his well-being. She arranges to have a young orphan, Kaki, transferred to the institution. The boy is also sick, but has experience with both worlds and speaks both languages. By sharing his culture with Kaki and opening it up to others, Tivii rediscovers his pride and energy. Ultimately he also rediscovers hope through a plan to adopt Kaki, bring him home and make him part of his family

  • Release Date

    25 August 2008

  • DirectingBenoît Pilon
  • Budget

    $0.00

  • Revenue

    $0.00

  • Stars

Videos

User Reviews

See more

More Like This

Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge!

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century...

See more
Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production...

See more
Rififi

Rififi

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old...

See more
Man of Two Worlds

Man of Two Worlds

A British explorer brings an Eskimo hunter to London, where he misreads a woman.

See more
Aningaaq

Aningaaq

Aningaaq, an Inuit fisherman camping on the ice over a frozen fjord, talks through a two way radio with a dying astronaut who is stranded in space,...

See more
Notice Me

Notice Me

Becky looks up from her phone and her world changes forever.

See more
The Sea

The Sea

Childhood friends reunite later in life in Spanish tuberculosis sanitorium. Pressures of death all around combine with dark secrets of their past.

See more
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

Based on a local legend and set in an unknown era, it deals with universal themes of love, possessiveness, family, jealousy and power. Beautifully...

See more
Sea Light

Sea Light

An elder lighthouse keeper takes care of what has been his home for years. Old and secluded from society, he's disturbed by mysterious bottled...

See more
The Snow Walker

The Snow Walker

A bush pilot in nothern Canada who with the aid of modernity thinks he can handle it all & knows it all. After reluctantly agreeing to transport a...

See more
The Boys

The Boys

Follow this ever brief conversation that is deeper then the actual words between the two woman and their families. Set in the landscape of Iqaluit,...

See more
Throat Song

Throat Song

In a small town in the Canadian Arctic, Ippik, a young Inuit woman, suffers in an abusive relationship. She starts to heal when she connects with...

See more
The Road to Wellville

The Road to Wellville

An unhappy young couple visit the infamous Kellogg spa in Battle Creek, Michigan while a young hustler tries get into the breakfast-cereal business...

See more
Never Cry Wolf

Never Cry Wolf

A scientific researcher, sent on a government study: The Lupus Project, must investigate the possible "menace" of wolves in the north. To do so, he...

See more
Nuummioq

Nuummioq

A love-struck man discovers he has an incurable illness shortly after meeting the woman of his dreams.

See more
Lady Jane

Lady Jane

The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into chaos because of succession disputes. His weak son, Edward, is on his deathbed. Anxious to...

See more
Drunken Angel

Drunken Angel

Doctor Sanada treats gangster Matsunaga after he is wounded in a gunfight, and discovers that he is suffering from tuberculosis. Sanada tries to...

See more
Anton Tchekhov 1890

Anton Tchekhov 1890

Summer 1890. In order to make some money to feed his family, Anton Chekhov, modest physician, wrote short stories for newspapers to sign Antosha...

See more
King of the Hill

King of the Hill

Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in...

See more
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen

Based on the journal of Knud Rasmussen's "Great Sled Journey" of 1922 across arctic Canada. The film is shot from the perspective of the Inuit...

See more