Older Than America (2008)

This was an interesting film, and while it was made by and mostly featured native Americans, it focused more on the story, where other films often focus on the plight of native Americans and the living conditions on the reservations.

This film does cover an important chapter in American history that is not taught in high school.  In fact, I would considering this to be the second most important event in that all Americans should know of in American history, with the genocide of native America people being the first.

I though this film would be more about the history of the atrocities committed at the so called Indian schools, perhaps even close to a documentary.

While this film turned out to be more of a suspense film, it did a pretty decent job of covering the atrocities committed at those Indian schools.

One point that I was left unresolved was the fate of the preacher.  While the film gave the impression that he was made to pay for his evil deeds, I would have preferred it if his actual fate was shown more cleanly,such as him being arrested.

While Bradley Cooper was in this film, playing the white guy, obviously, I had no idea he had become a big name actor, or that he was one of the stars of the film, The Hangover.

Apparently this movie was rereleased at American Evil, which I think is misleading, as it gives the impression the film is a horror film, which it is not.

Dance Me Outside (1994)

This is an interesting look into the lives of native Americans living on a reservation.  It's not preachy, and there is more to the story than just their living conditions, as it shows what directions their steer their lives in, (or lack of direction) as well as how they deal with the murder of a native and the unjust punishment given to the white man who committed the crime.

I am a little surprised to see that Frank and Silas are quite aimless, and appear to put a priority on getting drunk.  I know this is common among young people, and a problems among natives, but for me it seems completely pointless.

I was a bit appalled at the way had Illianna sleep with Gooch, behind her husband's back, due to his problems with infertility.  I don't know if this was just something the writer thought up, or is something culturally acceptable to native Americans.  Obviously, being a lawyer, Robert McVey, would have had access to fertility treatments, as he would have enough funds to pay for them.

It was interesting they way the the natives took Robert McVey to have him take part in a sacred native American ceremony, but I would think Robert would have suspected something, as it didn't appear they had gone to a site that was prepared for a sacred ceremony, as the site was littered with car parts and looked very make shift.  And some of the ridiculous things they said and had Robert do, should have been a give away.  Most obviously was when Silas, when speaking of his spirit animal said "I am the walrus"  That scene may have been just for entertainment value.

It's always great to see Adam Beach in a film, who was so outstanding in Smoke Signals and has created quite a career for himself, being in a large number of films, both native and Hollywood.

Pow Wow Highway (1989)

This is another native American made film, featuring a full cast of native Americans.  As if nearly required of any native American film, Graham Greene and Wes Studi both have roles.  These are two of the actor who appeared in Dance with Wolves, as well as numerous other native American films.

It is an interesting "adventure" film, but doesn't go deeply into any issues of the condition of native Americans today.

The character of Farmer has great faith in the old spiritual ways, and in this film, his faith pays off.  Unfortunately, I don't see that as a positive thing, attempting to rely on what is essentially superstition to solve your problems.

Buddy, on the other hand has abandoned the old ways, and is much more practical. While he seems to be more in control of his life and the issues that affect him, as I said it is Farmer and his spiritual ways, that save the day repeatedly.

The Brave (1997)

I was really interested in watching this movie, when I first heard about it, back in the late 90's but I was unable to track down a copy until just recently.  I found out that Johnny Depp, for whom this was his directorial debut, and also in large part financed the picture, didn't care for the early negative reviews of it in the American press, after the premiere screening, so he never released the film to theaters in the US nor has it ever been released on DVD or home video in the US.  Strangely, I was in Japan at the time of the initial release of this film, but I never saw that it was in theaters over there, nor have I seen it available on home video or in the video stores there.

I had planned on watching every film that Johnny Depp made, in the 1990s (that is when I had my plan), and I believe I have seen all but two of his films made in the 1990's, but since then I have not kept up with Johnny Depp's films.

I was primarily interested in this film because of the Native American aspect, in that it is supposedly set in a reservation type place and that the characters are themselves supposed to be native Americans, but this film captures nothing of native American life style, or culture.  While there was a single actor of native American decent in this film, and Johnny Depp who plays Raphael, does look vaguely native American, (or, he looks less like a stereotypical caucasian) no other actors are of native American decent, and a large number of them are Latinos, and even some of the music sounds Latino.  The area they are living in, on the side of, and surviving from scavenging from a trash pile, sounds nothing like a reservation or where native Americans would be living, and more like that you would find in the third world.  I didn't see any sign of native American culture in this film, from the way the people acted.  The only attempt at showing native American culture, was a odd extremely short ceremony Raphael participated in after his fight with Luis.

I felt it was very odd that Raphael and his family set up a lot of their furniture outside their house, as it made not sense, because if it were to rain, obviously everything would get ruined, such as the TV.  Also, it seemed really odd that he would waste a large portion of his money on those things, as it would have been better spent on necessities.

While my interest in this film stemmed from the native American aspect, this was clear not something the makers of this film were concerned with.  The reason the characters were created as native Americans was to the term "Brave" which could be used to describe a native American warrior, could as be used to describe how Raphael was brave to sacrifice himself for his family.

One to the things that made me hesitant to watch this film, and even stop half way through and wait a couple of weeks before finally finishing watching the film, was the "snuff" film aspect, which Raphael was supposed to participate in.  This really upsets me, as a concept, first because of the concept of killing for entertainment abhors me, and the concept of torture, equally so, but also the fact that snuff films do not actually exist.  I was perturbed that the film was going to depict the torture and killing of Raphael, as this wasn't something I wanted to see.  I spent the whole film, thinking that Raphael, had to change his mind about going through with it, that staying with his family was by far more important that that money.  I also was expecting some one in the film was going to save Raphael from this horrible deal with the devil he made.  I thought the police of FBI or some one would find out about, and close down the snuff film "studio" or perhaps the priest might stop it, or come up with the money in another way.  But, I guess the point of the film was that at the beginning, Raphael was "dead" and he only came alive again when he could finally provide for his children.  The question the film was posing was, would some really die for their family.  While I can see saving your family is a worthy reason to give up your life, I don't agree this would be a help way to do it.  I would think staying with them and providing for them through all the years of their life would be much more worth while.  I think the real question about giving up your life for your family is more like taking a bullet for them, than the method covered in this film.

At the end of the film, they showed the construction equipment coming and demolishing the housing that the people had set up, showing that Raphael's sacrifice was completely in vain.

It was amazing to see Marlon Brando appear in such a minor film, but his role was quite small (and perhaps even unnecessary), but was a big addition for marketing the film.

A Man Called Horse (1970)

As a kid, I had seen the commercials for this movie on channel 56, and it sounded like it was an impressive film that you must see.  Added to that, my interest in native American culture, it's kind of amazing that I hadn't seen this film yet.

But this film, like many films, has one short scene that made a big impression on the audience, and caused people to talk about that this film, but other than those 2 or 3 minutes, the film has very little to offer.

The film stars Richard Harris, who I know from playing King Arthur in Camelot, both the musical and the film.  While in the original story, which was a book, Horse was a Spaniard, being that Harris seems to play nothing other than Englishmen, the character of Horse is an Englishman, whose name is given in the film.

It's a good film in that it shows native Americans in a good light and they are more or less the center of the story, but I feel the accuracy of the representation of the culture is dubious at best.

Even more so, the accuracy of the Vow to the Sun ceremony, which attracted so much attention to this film, is also dubious.  As far as I know, there has been no confirmed record of the activities that take place during this ceremony, and I could find no record of the chest piercing and hanging has ever been a part of this ceremony.  Real or not, I  have heard that back in the times before disinfectant, any wound could become infected and lethal, so that piercing the skin would be something that I would think would be never considered to be done on purpose.


Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
This film adds nothing to the story (the story does not continue nor develop) and just rehashes the Vow to the Sun scene, which made such a big impression in the first film.

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983)
This film the story does progress, and the character of the son of Horse appears that takes up the cause of justice for his tribe.  It was interesting to see Michael Beck, whom I recognized from The Warriors, and made quite a films in the 80s, but he career never took of they way he probably hoped it would.  He does look slightly native, though through this film, there doesn't appear to be a single genuine native American actor, nor in a native American language spoken.

And as the tradition with movie posters of the time, the woman portrayed in this poster wearing a bikini, never wears a bikini in this film.

Wagon Train: A Man Called Horse (1958)
This story which proceeded the movie, seemed much better put together, and the REAL name of a man called Horse is never revealed.  Even more so, the character of Horse says he named himself, where as in the films, he was called that name by the members of the tribe, which doesn't make very much sense.

Also, in this version, the Man Called Horse is an American, which makes more sense, as it would be exceptionally rare for an Englishman to be out on the Frontier.

Edge of America (2003)

Ad for TV program

I will watch pretty much any native American film (either made by native American, or about them),  I am guessing I stumbled upon this film after watching Dreamkeeper, which also features the actor Eddie Spears.

This is the story of a women's high school basketball team on the 3 Nations Reservation.  It shows how they went from a horrible losing streak to be coached into winners.

In this film, coach Williams refers to the people of the reservation as native Americans, but  is "corrected" by the Annie assistant coach.  I take issue with this.  While the term Indian brings up images of beautiful people in native American costumes, it's use is disingenuous.  What I mean is, that it actual refers to a culture that was has has existed in Asia for thousands of years, and using the term to refer to a different unrelated group of people belittles the original and true Indians.

DVD cover that gives you an actual idea what the movie is about.

I believe this was a TV movie.  It was based on a true story and which was covered in another film "Rocks with Wings", which I haven't yet tracked down, but appears to be on YouTube.

Unfortunately, the real coach represented in this film, Jerry Richardson, was killed in a car accident in Florida in 1996.

There were a few native American (Navajo) words used in the film, but try as I might I was unable to chat exactly what they were saying, and unable to find the terms with an internet search.  The words I was looking for appear to mean together and were used by the assistant coach when she confronts coach Williams for the first time.

Dreamkeeper (2003)

Not quite sure how I discovered this film.  Native America films are not particularly numerous, and often get little to no exposure.  I learned about this film and "Skins" at the same time.

This film is less of a story about a grandson taking his grand father to a powwow and more of an excuse to tell and record native American stories. The film is certainly worth watching for anyone who has interest in the folklore of Native Americans.

Other Native American films I have watched include Smoke Signals, which is more about modern day native American's lives.

The Broken Chain (1993)

After catching the last half of the film Geronimo (1994), I did a little research and found that Wes Studi (who played the title role) had also made a TV film called "The Broken Chain" about the Iroquois Nation.  Wes Studi himself should be considered a (Cherokee) national treasure, but I don't want to go off on a tangent right now.

Anyhow, the film fairly accurately captures the historical events, as well as native American culture, along with the story that should be told.  It is certainly a significant historical event, one too often unknown and forgotten that everyone should at least have a basic understanding of, as the concept of a united nation was based on it, as was the foundation of the United States.

The only problem is that film seems to be lacking in realism in one respect, that is the over use of the English language.  While I release people don't like to read subtitles, it doesn't show an accurate reflection of how native American's would have primarily used their own language when speaking with each other.