Pour la suite du monde

Looked at entirely as a filmmaking exercise it's very interesting. It captures a certain group of people in a changing society very well with the strong use of sound and visual composition. When taking the content into account, I can't help but be pissed off by an elegiac longing for a non existent past, central characters I don't like and having them do things I despise at the urging of the filmmakers. The artistry does not make up for the morally bankrupt content.

Townspeople yearning to maintain their cultural identity. They're not sure how to do it, but they've become convinced that it has something to do with whale hunting. Compare/contrast their whale project with the incidental cultural activity shown in the film, and the greater context suggested by the trip to New York at the end. "Tradition is the illusion of permanence."