Maps, x-rays, and military aerial photographs form the network of resonances on which this epic story of human relations is written. The narrative, told in flashback, begins in the 1930s in a remote settlement, where a young boy--half Eskimo, half Euro—becomes fascinated by the maps of a visiting British cartographer. When the cartographer brings the boy to Montreal to treat his tuberculosis, Avik encounters not only the wonders of modern civilization but a soul mate: a young girl--half Indian, half white--who is a fellow patient. Fate brings the couple back together years later during World War II, when Avik flies missions from Britain over Germany as a photographer. What might be mere melodrama in lesser hands becomes an extravagant flight of imaginative vision and emotional depth for New Zealand director Ward, who crafts here some of cinema’s most unique and moving love scenes.