In any case, I hope you'll still have a read of today's previous post and especially the further thought provoking comments. Now on to the excitement....
Bill Mason is something of a hero of mine. Almost right up there with the likes of Sigurd Olson, Edward Abbey, and Henry David Thoreau in my book, though he is a different sort of figure than they...less literary perhaps, but only slightly less influential and formative for my own personal wilderness ethic and sensibilities. And so, as of this posting and the film below, Bill Mason will take his place in my sidebar with the other names under the "Teachers, Present and/or Enduring Influences" heading.I first saw the film Waterwalker in 1994, and it has been almost a "holy" film to me ever since, if there is such a thing. I have wanted to find this entire film online for the very purpose of posting it on this blog since I started the blog, but all my searches ever turned up were some short clips on You Tube. Now, the "NorthWoodsGuy," a fellow Minnesotan, Thoreau-ian, and North Country enthusiast who blogs at Spirit of the Northwoods, has found the film at the National Film Board of Canada. I don't know how I missed it there, but anyway.... My thanks to NorthWoodsGuy for this one.
This film is scored (musically) by Mason's fellow Canadian, the poet-singer-songwriter-composer-musician-extraordinaire Bruce Cockburn (who, incidentally, is one of my all time favorite musical artists). Running time is 87 minutes.
Major differences between me and Bill Mason:
a) I am not an artist.
b) Though at one time I think Mason and I would have been on very close to the same page in terms of "spiritual" beliefs (and Mason talks somewhat freely about these in the film), I can't quite say that is the case nowadays.
c) I am not a whitewater enthusiast as Mason was. In fact, it scares the freaking crap out of me!
d) I am not as "old school" as Mason in terms of my gear preferences/prejudices.
All of that notwithstanding, Mason is most assuredly a "kindred spirit" and a man that if I had had the good fortune to know him personally, I'm sure we would have gotten on famously and with whom I would have loved to have paddled the northern backcountry. I have taken solo canoe trips in the same part of the world in Mason's film, and I will again. Perhaps if you view this film you will catch part of the spell that the canoe country weaves upon souls like us, so susceptible to it's rugged charms....
I'll stop foaming at the mouth now and just let Bill Mason (and Bruce Cockburn's musical score) weave the magic. Here's the film:
Wow - great post Wisdom. I can defiantly feel that passion that you have for this film, and this man. I am so glad that you have finally found this movie in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteKeep the Spirit soaring!!
Nice. Thanks for this. Interesting how Mason says that when he's out alone is when he feels the most need to paint in order to share the experience. It made me think of my reaction to your other post, which was that if we write when we are alone, then we are not really being alone, we are trying to connect even then. Perhaps some of us just connect better, express ourselves better with fewer people around. Only one who can be alone and not paint, not write, not try to share the experience in any way is experiencing true solitude.
ReplyDeleteNorthWoodsGuy,
ReplyDeleteI'll do what I can until I can get out there with paddle in hand again! :)
Thanks. And thanks again for finding and posting the film.
Sylvia,
This is quite an interesting take. and makes me think...Hmmmm....
Mason also said, however, that in order to paint it he had to go alone, and not with other people. So his inspiration is, at least in part coming from solitude...I think....
Thanks for the thought provocation.
Indeed, the artistic process and the social process do not go well together, even though art is essentially social. It's a paradox.
ReplyDeleteA paradox, yes, as is the need in some humans (such as myself) for solitude as well as human companionship.
ReplyDeleteForest…I really want to thank you for this film. I've seen little bits and pieces of it elsewhere, years ago, but never the whole thing. If it's available on DVD, I intend to add it to my collection.
ReplyDeleteI know of Mason from his canoe books. But this is such a wonderful piece, shot so well—and set in my favorite area in all the world. That's why I bought my place on Superior's south shore years ago—because of the beauty and wildness, the beaches, the dark forests, the tannin-stained streams, and the vast, lonely lake and land which Mason captures and loved. Did you hear the whitethroats singing throughout the film? Oh, my!
Anyway, thanks again—this film was a wonderful gift. A treasure.
South Shore Grizzled,
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome. Somehow, I knew that you, among my faithful readers, would "get" this, and resonate deeply...and you did.
The "white-throats" you say?
"Po-or Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" or "Oh-oh Canada, Canada, Canada" Second to the call of the Loon, of course, it's a song that defines the Northwoods. The first time I hear a Loon call or a White-throat sing when I arrive back in canoe country, I know I am "home", and I feel it in my entire being...just a bird song can do that....
Sincerely,
North Shore Forest
Re. whitethroats…
ReplyDeleteThey spend the winter here, in Ohio. Every day now they're outside my window, sometimes even hopping up on the ledge. One of my three favorite birds. And they sing…that haunting and beautiful song. And just like that, I'm in the northcountry—except, alas, I'm not. And then I'm so instantly sad and lonely I almost weep.
Felt the same way watching Mason's film. Thank you again.