Black Robe

Rating:
Summary: bored to death
Review: at school last week we watched this movie, history class. It was exteamly borning. I learned noting and only was disgusted RENT THIS FIRST, PO

Rating:
Summary: A profound, unflinching film
Review: Black Robe is a bleak but magnificent work that contrasts the world views of two colliding cultures. The Amazon review is excellent, but it errs in implying that the director favors the spirituality of the native Americans. Both the Jesuit's and the shaman's religious visions prove to be true, but NEITHER faith is able to avert the tragedy that impends as the two cultures conflict. One of my all-time favorite films.

Rating:
Summary: An antidote for the neo-romanticism of the AmerIndian
Review: Black Robe

The Black Robe reminds me of those classics during the 1960's of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Another recent image for me is that of the movie the Last of the Mohicans (1992), based on the book of the same title by James Fenimore Cooper. Not to mention Dances with Wolves with Kevin Costner (1990) and directed by Kevin Costner. I happen to love most movies where that Native Americas are depicted in story that is uplifting about their lives. Black Robe was directed by Bruce Beresford, and is based on the novel written by Brian Moore. I found similarities in both Dances with Wolves and Black Robe.

The use of the natural settings of woods and rivers were fantastic and beautiful. The use of rivers as means of transportation is very realistic in Native American culture, especially since water is seen as the source of all life. This film at times seems to be more about the inner spiritual life of Chief Chomina (August Schellenberg) and his quest to follow his vision than about the journey of Father Laforgue (Lothaire Bluteau) to minister to the Indians in Quebec. While the Father did not show much spirituality, he did however have his memories which seemed very stark compared to the chief's visions. The differences of their cultures really did stand out in this movie. The Hurons were used to sharing their resources amongst themselves while Father Laforgue tried to keep things back for later use. Another culture shock for the Father was that of the Natives procreating at night. This bothered him greatly, so much so that he was tormented by it and had to leave his bed. This scene also took place in Dances with Wolves, here again was a white guy (Lt. John Dunbar) sleeping by a Native fire. Yet his reaction to what was happening brought him into a relationship where he married a member of the tribe and became one of them. Whereas Father Laforgue cut himself off from relationship and went off alone to do penance.

One phrase at the end of both films caught my attention: 15 years later. In the case of Dances with Wolves the phrase dealt with the fact that the expansion of white men into Native American territory meant the demise of their way of life. In Black Robe the Native Indians in Quebec who converted to Christianity became too docile and therefore were killed by other warring tribes after Father Laforgue's arrival. Interestingly spiritually they knew that this was going to happen. This film was great, but sadly since it came out not too long after Dances with Wolves, I believe that it was overshadowed by the former film.

For those who want to add to the Native American story collection, it is a great film that could be watched and compared to two other Native American epics: Last of the Mohicans, and Dances with Wolves.

Rating:
Summary: Clash of Culture
Review: Black Robe

The Black Robe reminds me of those classics during the 1960's of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Another recent image for me is that of the movie the Last of the Mohicans (1992), based on the book of the same title by James Fenimore Cooper. Not to mention Dances with Wolves with Kevin Costner (1990) and directed by Kevin Costner. I happen to love most movies where that Native Americas are depicted in story that is uplifting about their lives. Black Robe was directed by Bruce Beresford, and is based on the novel written by Brian Moore. I found similarities in both Dances with Wolves and Black Robe.

The use of the natural settings of woods and rivers were fantastic and beautiful. The use of rivers as means of transportation is very realistic in Native American culture, especially since water is seen as the source of all life. This film at times seems to be more about the inner spiritual life of Chief Chomina (August Schellenberg) and his quest to follow his vision than about the journey of Father Laforgue (Lothaire Bluteau) to minister to the Indians in Quebec. While the Father did not show much spirituality, he did however have his memories which seemed very stark compared to the chief's visions. The differences of their cultures really did stand out in this movie. The Hurons were used to sharing their resources amongst themselves while Father Laforgue tried to keep things back for later use. Another culture shock for the Father was that of the Natives procreating at night. This bothered him greatly, so much so that he was tormented by it and had to leave his bed. This scene also took place in Dances with Wolves, here again was a white guy (Lt. John Dunbar) sleeping by a Native fire. Yet his reaction to what was happening brought him into a relationship where he married a member of the tribe and became one of them. Whereas Father Laforgue cut himself off from relationship and went off alone to do penance.

One phrase at the end of both films caught my attention: 15 years later. In the case of Dances with Wolves the phrase dealt with the fact that the expansion of white men into Native American territory meant the demise of their way of life. In Black Robe the Native Indians in Quebec who converted to Christianity became too docile and therefore were killed by other warring tribes after Father Laforgue's arrival. Interestingly spiritually they knew that this was going to happen. This film was great, but sadly since it came out not too long after Dances with Wolves, I believe that it was overshadowed by the former film.

For those who want to add to the Native American story collection, it is a great film that could be watched and compared to two other Native American epics: Last of the Mohicans, and Dances with Wolves.

Rating:
Summary: "If you show pity, others think you are weak"
Review: Bruce Bereford's film is an uncompromising examination of the depths of belief and culture. Father Laforgue has relinquished wealth and family to become a Jesuit priest and missionary in the wilderness of 17th -century Quebec. His superiors send him on a journey up the St. Lawrence to head a mission to the Hurons. Samuel Champlain - the French explorer and governor of Quebec - pays a group of Algonquin and their leader, Chomina, to guide and protect him. The cultural clash begins immediately as the Algonquin become convinced that Laforgue is a demon - partly because of his ability to read - and he remains impatient with their earth-bound ideas of an afterlife: the Americans (as they were called at the time) cannot imagine a heaven without sex or tobacco. No confounding considerations such as a search for treasure or a desire for conquest are apparent in Father Laforgue. He is solely concerned for the Americans' ultimate well-being and is even hesitant to perform a group baptism under what he considers false pretenses.

Chomina remains with Laforgue when the rest of his clan abandon the priest, and the two undergo dreadful torture at the hand of the Iroquois. The two learn to respect and love each other, but their deepest parts of their lives form an finally unbridgeable gap between them. The modern irreligious sorts who are bigoted against Christianity (I'm not a Christian myself) frequently see this film as a criticism of it and an affirmation of the Americans' culture. But the film is more complex than that. There are many things to dislike about the Iroquois, the Huron, and the Algonquin even if one thinks that Laforgue and other missionaries where wrong-headed. Laforgue makes it to the Huron mission, and an unnecessary endnote indicates that the mission was abandoned by the Church twenty years later. What it doesn't say is that the Iroquois conquest drove the Huron from their lands, and many years later they settled in Oklahoma where the remnants of tribe now live; the Algonquin are extinct (Columbia Encyclopedia)

The movie is beautifully produced with evocative music and scenic shots of the Canadian lakes during fall and winter. Lothaire Bluteau is a handsome and intense Father Laforgue, and August Schellenberg is a stone-faced Chomina. Hearing a Canadian accent out of the Huron leader is unintentionally amusing. Some nudity and explicit sex.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle movie making, beautiful photography. Engaging.
Review: Bruce Beresford continues to impress. This is a very intelligent, honest film, and remarkably beautiful on DVD. A nice example of a talented film maker deftly telling a complex, compelling story. It's entertaining without pandering simple answers or avoiding ambiguity. America was founded by the "civilized" Christians removing the native "savages", and the film therefore provides much to ruminate upon--a rare thing in Hollywood. While on the violent side, in its defense these were brutal times; the movies strives for an accurate, realistic feel and to ignore the brutality would be insincere. Ultimately neither side is lily-white: it's neither John Wayne nor Kevin Coster, a thoughtful balance that is encouraging.

Rating:
Summary: If you liked Last of the Mohicans, DO NOT miss this movie!
Review: Few movies of recent memory arrived with such little fanfare but had such enormous impact on the viewer as did Black Robe. As powerful a tribute to good film making as Dances With Wolves or Last of the Mohicans [1992], this film transports you back to the North American wilderness of the seventeenth century, and gives the viewer a dose of realism that will live in your consciousness for weeks on end. Epic in it's scope and historically accurate in it's story, this movie captures on film what few others have accomplished for this period of history. If your idea of good cinema is an opportunity to be educated as well as to be entertained, and to relive a time in history long since past, then DO NOT miss this fine film! It is a must see movie for all history buffs... Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: Stunning achievement.
Review: First, I want to thank all the reviewers here. It is their reviews of this fine film that tempted me to purchase it (that, and the fact that the director also did "Breaker Morant"--a favorite of mine).

I'm a big fan of this genre. I loved "Dances with Wolves" and "Jeremiah Johnson", and I really enjoyed "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Last of the Dogmen", yet none of these excellent movies compare with the absolute realism depicted in "Black Robe".

This is a simple story set in the early seventeenth century...a story of a French Jesuit priest who has been charged by his superiors to canoe to a Huron outpost 1500 miles away (with the aid of Indian scouts and an interpreter) and help convert the Huron Indians to Christianity, thus saving their souls.

In this movie the protagonist isn't some superhero who makes no mistakes, shows no weaknesses, can out shoot and out ride any man alive. On the contrary, he is just a young priest filled with self-righteousness, ignorance, fear and doubt. But despite this (or because of this), his bravery is truly unparalleled. This is a story of real people fighting for their lives every single day against the breathtaking harshness of nature and against other Indian tribes.

This is also a story about the clash between two widely varied cultures. This is shown with an uncanny subtlety, yet the effects are devastating.

"Black Robe" goes where few movies have gone before, or since. It is a movie as Oscar-worthy as any I have ever seen. The cinematography is bleak, cold, and unforgiving, as is the story. Between 1 and 10, I give this landmark film a solid 9. It truly is one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Amazon.com's review got it right!
Review: For years I've been saying what amazon.com's reviewer says so eloquently: that Black Robe is a more honest assessment of the historic relationship between Europeans and Native Americans than Dances with Wolves. It faithfully depicts the honest confusion and complexity that occurs when two cultures collide. My problem with Dances with Wolves was that it was too 'neat'. These are the good guys and these are the bad ones. Black Robe avoids that and handles the issue with more integrity.

Rating:
Summary: Poor Quality
Review: I am unable to really review this video. The sound track is trashed. Beware of buying video's from zshops.