Map of the Human Heart

I’m reunited with one of my favorite movies in the whole world, the tale of which I’ll relate because it’s about maps.
Well that’s just partly true. “Map of the Human Heart” is an epic love story. It happens to feature many maps, even a female store-dummy with robotic abilities which is dressed in maps. More conventional maps are a backdrop of this magnificent film. But it’s the love story which made me cry watching it two decades ago. Not just at the end, but through almost the whole thing.
You cannot rent, borrow or buy this movie anywhere. I tried for 20 years, although not full-time. I did other things too. Last week I typed it into a bit torrent search box, as I’d done many times. Boy was I surprised to get a hit. Someone actually had this!
If you enjoyed “Atanarjua - Fast Runner” then you’ll love “Map of the Human Heart.” Themes like the individual struggle of Inuit survival are the same. But “Human Heart” unfolds on a bigger map than Canada's North, and contrasts are stark. The movie manages to link the unforgiving Arctic environment to the Second World War bombing of Dresden Germany. And of course there’s the love story in between.
“Human Heart” is a Miramax film starring Jason Scott Lee, Patrick Bergin and John Cusack. Few have heard of the movie, because it was made before these actors were famous. Bergin plays a cartographer who lands in Canada’s Arctic in the 1930’s, to map the area. Scott-Lee is the adult version of a charismatic Inuit boy whose amazing, heroic life is tragically dismissed as a drunkard’s ramblings. The ending can be interpreted as either very happy or very sad, depending on your perspective and mood.

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