SMOKE SIGNALS

INTRODUCTION: The first Native American production to come out of the U.S. this film did very well at Sundance, winning both the Audience Award and the Film Makers Trophy, but failed to make much of an impression in the somewhat more distant climes of the Edinburgh Film Festival.

SYNOPSIS: Following the death of his estranged father Arnold (Farmer) in distant Phoenix, Victor (Beach) and his story telling compadre Thomas (Adams), leaves the Coeur d'Alene reservation in Idaho and sets off on the road to collect the ashes. Upon reaching Phoenix they encounter Suzy Song (Bedard), Arnold's girlfriend, who teaches Victor, through the aid of the flashback, the truth about life, love and fatherhood.

REVIEW: Based on Sherman Alexi's collection of short stories "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" this is the feature debut of Eyre, a Cheyenne/Arapaho from Klamath Falls, Oregon, whose previous work include shorts "Tenacity" and "Someone Kept Saying Powwow" also based on a story from Alexi's book.

Beach and Adams are great in the lead roles of jock and nerd respectively, and the presentation of such easily stereotypable characters allows the audience to quickly and easily identify with what is after all an alien (or not as the case may be) culture. Bedard and Farmer put in excellent performances along with an outstanding supporting cast.

Eyre tackles the complexities of native American life with a wonderfully self-deprecating sense of humour, that results in an charming piece of entertainment that never resorts to preaching. But one would expect nothing less, from a people with such a wonderful story-telling tradition, in fact quite why they would feel they needed to make a movie is beyond me. It is perhaps this kind of cultural pollution that is the biggest threat to the indigenous populations of the world.

It is, indeed, a great day to be indigenous.

Mutt's Rating: ****

Home | Reviews | Reputations | Contact the Lizard