The happy life in a Siberian village

The men in ("Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" live the way their forebears did hundreds, even thousands, of years ago.)

GALLERY: The men in ("Happy…)

By Steven Rea, Inquirer Movie Critic

Posted: February 16, 2013

It's a great place for dogs, Bakhtia. In winter, when the Yenisei River is frozen over in this remotest patch of Siberia (accessible only by helicopter or, in summer months, by boat), the huskies go hunting with their masters, or tag along behind undulating snowmobiles, or curl up in a patch of sun in an opening between massive firs.

When the ice thaws, they help to catch fish. The males and females breed. Puppies are born, and the cycle continues.

Although Happy People: A Year in the Taiga isn't really about the dogs, documentarian Werner Herzog is fascinated by these keen-eyed beasts, and their relationship with man. But per the title, this engaging film - which Herzog cut down to size from a four-hour Russian TV program by Dmitry Vasyukov - is about the human residents of the village in the Taiga boreal forest.

Hunters, trappers, carpenters - these are men (and a few women; we don't meet too many) who live the way their forebears did hundreds, even thousands, of years ago. Yes, there are power saws and snowmobiles, but there are also axes and cross-country skis carved from fallen trees. No telephones, no Kardashians.

Herzog, he of the mellifluous, German-accented voice and the ridiculous work ethic (this is his 24th nonfiction feature; he has made almost as many fiction films, and he acts now and then, too), waxes lyrical about the simple, rugged life on display here. His narration has a tone of admiration and yearning. If only he weren't a globe-hopping filmmaker, he, too, could traipse across the snowbanks to put bait in an animal trap, or go fishing in the dark!

Albeit a found film of sorts, Happy People is very much of a piece with Herzog's other work, examining man's place in the natural world, looking at man's history and man's ability to survive, to endure. And if there's a dog there to help, that's all right, too.