Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Lack of good storyline.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Istvan Kolnhofer is quite correct when he says this is "One of the most important "lost" independent films ever".I have little to add to the other reviewers other than this film is right on my top shelf next to _Fight Club_ and _Aguirre_ and there it stays. This can be called a horror flick in its truest form - gnawing dread permeates throughout. But don't expect a splatter-fest - it's not. This is low budget indie at its absolute best. Lack of budget is more than compensated by superb scripting and performance. This is what really sets it head and shoulders above the "stream of consciousness" indie crap that continually oozes out of the film festivals. Despite it's age, it is as pertinent as ever and stands up to regular repeat viewing. If you ever get a chance to see it, do so - but also note, the less you actually know about this film, the greater your experience will be. Definite keeper.

Like most Canadians, I tend to shy away from viewing Canadian-made movies, especially if they deal with First People's issues. ("Oh no! Not another one of those".) But CLEARCUT came highly recommended by a friend who is really into intensely horrific stories.It starts off looking like something we've all seen before with a band of Native North Americans squaring off against the "cruel white logging company". It then takes a neat turn about twenty minutes in when our main protagonist sits in on a sauna session-ritual with some Native elders in a teepee. It is his bloody fever dream within the dark steamy enclosure that begins to set the tone for the rest of the film. And what a film! Righteous "psycho" Native, Arthur (effectively played by Graham Greene) kidnaps our main hero who is a lawyer representing the protesters along with the nasty head of the logging company. Arthur then forces the two on a grueling journey through the forests with the sole aim of vengefully torturing them into seeing things from the native perspective. Relentlessly paced, full of twists and turns and its share of bloody gore, the film pulls no punches.It is smartly adapted by screenwriter Rob Forsyth, nicely shot by Francois Protat and well acted by Ron Lea with moody music by Shane Harvey. Although purely a dramatic work, it plays out like an old Indian legend and a sick stalker flick. Let me finally state that you don't have to be into Native issues to like this film. It works on many levels and is simply a really excellent entertaining movie!

I've seen reviews by 'critics' who hated it, hated Graham Greene's character, etc. They don't like it because he's not the happy-go-lucky smiling injun they want to see. It's obvious Arthur is not human, but a personification, or materialization, of Peter's sweatlodge vision. "You dreamed anger, and your anger is real"...and it's taken on a life of it's own. When his work is done, when he's taught Peter to take more than a passive stance, he returns to his world. But you also see that spirit is going to be carried into future generations by the precocious Polly, the little girl at the beginning and end of the film. I love Budd's babbling once pain/infection/delirium takes place. And I hope his ordeal has taught him a thing or two about his cavalier destruction of not only the land, but aboriginal rights and greed.

Arthur is the spirit-guide Peter McGuire finds during his sweat-lodge vision; a water-spirit who becomes the personification of McGuire's own anger. If you don't believe me on this, pay attention to the water shots (starting with the opening shot of the movie), the sweat-lodge sequence, and listen carefully to almost everything Wilf says. Once you understand what Arthur is, you can see that the primary themes explored are (1) talk vs. action, and (2) if you cannot control your anger, your anger will control you. I found Ron Lea a bit too wimpy to carry off the final scene, but overall, this is a very thought-provoking movie, which I recommend to anyone who likes to think.