Map of the Human Heart (1993)

Synopsis:
Map of the Human Heart is the title of a 1993 film by New Zealand director Vincent Ward. It was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. The film, set mostly before and during World War II, centers on the life of a Canadian Inuit boy, Avik (played as a child by Robert Joamie, and as an adult by Jason Scott Lee), who joins the Royal Canadian Air Force and eventually, as a crewmember of a Lancaster bomber, participates in the notorious firebombing of Dresden. Throughout his life, Avik is haunted by love for a Métis girl, Albertine (played by Anne Parillaud).
The film also stars Patrick Bergin, who plays a pivotal role as both surrogate father to Avik and his primary rival in Albertine's love. Jeanne Moreau has a minor role as a Québécois nun. John Cusack also has a small but important role as the mapmaker to whom Avik relates his incredible tale.
The film's re-creation of the firebombing of Dresden is one of the most graphic and powerful sequences in the film. On the day Ward finished shooting these scenes, he received word that his father, who had actually participated in the historical firebombing of Dresden, had died. This is why Ward chose to dedicate the film to him.
The scenes in "Nunatuk," the region of Northern Canada where Avik's people are from, were filmed on location in what is now Nunavut, using local Inuit as extras.

Director: Vincent Ward
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