Smoke Signals

Rating:
Summary: It's a Good Day to Be Indigenous....
Review: I want to start out by saying Sherman Alexie is probably one of the greatest writers of our time. When I say "greatest writers" I don't mean "greatest NATIVE writers" or "greatest writers of COLOR," I mean Greatest Writers. Mr. Alexie manages to capture the most universal emotions (grief, joy, heartbreak, anguish) and make the excessible to all, yet he also brings his own unique flavor, style and ironic wit to the mix so we are never bored. I can honestly say that Smoke Signals is one of those films that is really dear to my heart for many reasons, and the screenplay by Alexie definitely is one of the contributing factors.

For starters, there are so many classic lines in this film. The first being that line I used as the subject for this review. "It is a good day to be Indigenous." I don't think we hear that everyday! The negative view of native people even today is really disturbing, and I think when people regardless of background see the portrayal of indigenous people in films, television shows, literature and education it continues to horrify and astound us all.

Secondly, the story is a wonderful and important one that I think everyone can relate to. It touches on the theme of fathers and the relationship with their children. Victor (Adam Beach) is an bitter, angry and distrustful young man who grew up on the Coeur D'Alene "Rez" with his bespectacled friend/nemesis Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams). These young men are growing up in a culture separate from mainstream white culture--a culture they eventually leave when they go to retrieve the ashes of Victor's deceased father. What starts out as a road trip turns into something more significant than either of them could've imagined. It becomes ceremonial, and a real opportunity for maturity that changes their relationships with each other and themselves.

Finally, the acting is wonderful. The lead actors are engaging, believable and sympathetic. The supporting cast is strong and they really capture the essence of Alexie's novels. When I read TONTO AND LONE RANGER FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN (specifically the short story, "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," which the film was based on), the way I envisioned the characters (how they would look, how they would talk, etc) matched the image exactly!

Take it from me, a Sherman Alexie fan and self-proclaimed "culture vulture".....this film is all that and a stack of fry bread!

Rating:
Summary: Very humorous, enthralling video.
Review: "It's a good day to be indigenous" - from that line, I was hooked. I had to watch this film for my American Ethnic Lit course. Throughout the course, we are trying to answer the question "What does it mean to be _____". Smoke Signals is significant because, with a Native American director, cast, screenwriter, it does an authentic job of dispelling conventional perceptions about Native Americans (VICTOR: You have to look like you just finished killing a buffalo. THOMAS: But our tribe were fishermen.) Not having read the book this film was based on, I can't say anything about how well it adapts. Apparently, the plot draws on several of the short stories in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. From a literary perspective, I found the repeated motifs of fire, disappearing and invisibility, magic, and basketball very fascinating (particularly when Arnold and Victor Joseph played basketball against the Jesuits). This film is full of pleasant surprises that will make you laugh out loud, but it is very tender as well. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: If you enjoyed 'Joy Luck Club'.....
Review: ...and its (anything, but) subtle use of symbolism, you might enjoy this movie also. It's been a while since seeing 'Smoke Signals' seven years ago at it's release, but glancing through these reviews I thought that I should give the readers another viewpoint.... The acting was hilarious (if you've ever studied acting you'll be cringing till your stomach hurts). The plot was ridiculous and tedious and directionless. And there was no more insight to this film than you might find in an episode of Dawson's Creek. I remember this movie because it has always stood out for me as one the ten worst films I've ever seen. But, I am definitely in the minority. I've never heard anyone say ANYTHING bad about the movie (other than the two other folks I saw it with). That's very rare for any film not titled 'Citizen Cane'. As an entirely Native American offering, perhaps it wouldn't be prudent for 'liberal' types (I include myself in that category, btw) to criticize this work. That is, perhaps, unfair for me to speculate on, but I am just so puzzled at people's reaction to the film. It's not that it's a bad movie that people seem to have formed some attachment to; it's that it is so incredibly bad! But what are the chances that you'd agree with me and not the other, obviously intelligent folks, who've I've spoken to about this film, and who've written here?

P.S. If you'd like to see a bad film from 1998 why not try 'Godzilla'? There may not be any 'dumping daddy's ashes in the river' moments, but the dialog is a notch above.


Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Eyre
Review: Shortly after receiving my driver's license I decided to take a road trip through Nebraska. At one point in my journey I suddenly noticed Indians everywhere--driving down the road, sitting in parking lots off the state highway, and standing in front of decrepit looking buildings. "What's going on here?" I said to myself, not knowing at the time that I was cruising through the Winnebago reservation in Northern Nebraska. I always tell this story to friends nowadays, especially ones who champion Native American rights, and it never fails to get a laugh. Why? Because they know most of us rarely encounter Indians, let alone spend any time on reservations. Out here in the Midwest, you will still meet Native Americans from time to time outside of reservations. If you live on the East or West Coast of the United States, however, you probably have little interaction with Indians. Oh, you might have seen one on a college campus, or know someone who knows someone who has some "Indian blood" flowing through their veins, but most Americans have only seen Indians in old photographs or on television. In short, most of us have little idea about the lives of modern day Native Americans.

Director Chris Eyre's three films, "Skins," "Skinwalkers," and "Smoke Signals," put Indian characters center stage. "Smoke Signals" is the story of Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) and Thomas Builds the Fire (Evan Adams), two young men living on a reservation in Idaho. Years before the events we see in the film, Victor's father Arnold (Gary Farmer) rescued Thomas from a house fire that claimed the lives of his parents. The deed assumed, rightfully so, legendary dimensions on the reservation, and no one promotes this magnificent act more than Thomas Builds the Fire. A geeky, frequently poetic soul prone to rambling statements of epic sweep in a voice that could melt eardrums, Thomas annoys Victor to no end. It isn't the tone of Thomas voice or even his penchant for storytelling that works on Victor's last nerve, but the lionization of his father Arnold. A few years after the rescue, Arnold ran out on his son and wife and headed to Arizona. That he never returned angers Victor to end, almost as much as his recollections of Arnold's abusive behavior and chronic alcoholism. Thomas never saw any of this behavior, so his recollections revolve around the rescue and the day Arnold took the boy out to breakfast at a restaurant. These two differing perspectives of the same man form the crux of "Smoke Signals."

One day Victor learns that his father has passed away and that he must go to Arizona to collect the man's ashes. Unfortunately for him, he can only afford to make the journey when Thomas offers to pay for the bus trip. Of course, Thomas insists on going along. What follows are a series of adventures, some amusing and some serious, as the two young men draw closer and closer to fulfilling their task. In a hilarious scene on the bus, Victor instructs Thomas on how to act like a real Indian (quit grinning like an idiot, adopt a serious mien) and gets into an argument with a passenger claiming to be a former Olympic gymnast. Victor Joseph doesn't appear to suffer fools kindly, and he often takes his anger about his life out on complete strangers, something that completely mystifies his friend Thomas. Victor's bad attitude continues once the two reach Arnold's trailer out in the desert. It appears that Arnold Joseph took up with Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), a beautiful young woman who also has many positive memories of the man. At first, Victor can barely stand listening to Suzy and Thomas exchanging these happy tales, but he eventually begins to understand that his father had a side he never knew about.

I've seen all three Chris Eyre films, and I have to say that "Smoke Signals" is the most "Indian" of the three in that the answers to the story aren't offered to the audience on a silver platter. A person watching this film must actually think about what is happening onscreen or they won't get anything out of it. You might laugh a few times, about the aforementioned "act like an Indian" scene or the amusing KREZ traffic reporter sitting on the top of a broken down van at the side of an abandoned road, but you won't pick up on any of the emotional and psychological themes. I took the movie as an examination of how any one individual embodies both good and bad traits, and that these traits inspire different responses in different people. No one recollection of a person defines who that person is in their sum total, and only by learning different perspectives about someone can we even begin to approach the truth about that individual's real identity. Of course, I could be completely wrong. The good thing about "Smoke Signals" is that you can take away multiple meanings from the film and still enjoy the performances, the humor, and the drama.

Another great element, found in all of Chris Eyre's films, is his refusal to play the often tiresome political correctness card. His movies always contain a few references to indignities Indians suffer and continue to suffer in this country, but he always relegates such comments to just one aspect of their existence. The director's concerns rest more on presenting his characters as real people dealing with universal human problems than worrying about who broke what treaty back in the nineteenth century. Chris Eyre is a magnificent director who could probably lens a film in any genre with any cast and do a wonderful job. I hope he keeps working in the future.


Rating:
Summary: Small Ambitions, Well Realized
Review: The simple shorthand for Smoke Signals would be to call it a Native American coming of age film, without the almost requisite sex that proliferates in the genre. It rates more than passing interest for being entirely made by a Native American cast and crew and, to those unfamiliar with his work, as an introduction to the excellent Native American short story writer Sherman Alexie, who I assume, perhaps wrongly, to be partially embodied in the Thomas Builds-the-Fire character. The plot line of cool guy and geek go to pick up cool guy's Dad's ashes far from the Coeur d'Alene reservation moves at its own pace with many deadpan or telling vignettes along the way. Check out, for example, the KREZ traffic reports, the Olympic team alternate gymnast the boys meet on the bus, Thomas' swagger in his new clothes, and the unexpected kindness from a rural sheriff. There's not anything here that will take your breath away, but Smoke Signals is strongly recommended for its careful craft and fine realization.

Rating:
Summary: It's a Good Day to Be Indigenous....
Review: I want to start out by saying Sherman Alexie is probably one of the greatest writers of our time. When I say "greatest writers" I don't mean "greatest NATIVE writers" or "greatest writers of COLOR," I mean Greatest Writers. Mr. Alexie manages to capture the most universal emotions (grief, joy, heartbreak, anguish) and make the excessible to all, yet he also brings his own unique flavor, style and ironic wit to the mix so we are never bored. I can honestly say that Smoke Signals is one of those films that is really dear to my heart for many reasons, and the screenplay by Alexie definitely is one of the contributing factors.

For starters, there are so many classic lines in this film. The first being that line I used as the subject for this review. "It is a good day to be Indigenous." I don't think we hear that everyday! The negative view of native people even today is really disturbing, and I think when people regardless of background see the portrayal of indigenous people in films, television shows, literature and education it continues to horrify and astound us all.

Secondly, the story is a wonderful and important one that I think everyone can relate to. It touches on the theme of fathers and the relationship with their children. Victor (Adam Beach) is an bitter, angry and distrustful young man who grew up on the Coeur D'Alene "Rez" with his bespectacled friend/nemesis Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams). These young men are growing up in a culture separate from mainstream white culture--a culture they eventually leave when they go to retrieve the ashes of Victor's deceased father. What starts out as a road trip turns into something more significant than either of them could've imagined. It becomes ceremonial, and a real opportunity for maturity that changes their relationships with each other and themselves.

Finally, the acting is wonderful. The lead actors are engaging, believable and sympathetic. The supporting cast is strong and they really capture the essence of Alexie's novels. When I read TONTO AND LONE RANGER FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN (specifically the short story, "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," which the film was based on), the way I envisioned the characters (how they would look, how they would talk, etc) matched the image exactly!

Take it from me, a Sherman Alexie fan and self-proclaimed "culture vulture".....this film is all that and a stack of fry bread!

Rating:
Summary: "It's rough all over, Pony Boy"
Review: Please excuse my Outsider's approximate quotation, but it seems to apply to this movie. At first you are dropped into a new landscape of the modern Native American reservation. The locale seems charming with it's quirky customs - people who drive backwards, a radio station based out of an RV. However, as the story unfolds, you realize that themes emerge that we can all relate to - pain, abandonment, disappointment, anger, loneliness. Well-done, especially if you appreciate slow-paced, dialog-driven films.

Rating:
Summary: more fry bread please!!
Review: I first saw this film several years ago. It was featured in an Art Of Film class at a local college. It was featured with classics from various genres. It is such a beautiful film on so many levels. Buy it, rent it, just make sure that you see it at least once. It make statements about culture, society, and has many universal themes for all of mankind. Enjoy

Rating:
Summary: Loved this movie
Review: I really, really loved this movie. It's one of the few movies I have seen lately where I could actually get attached to the characters, and to the plot. I loved Evan Adams' portrayal of Thomas. He was such a positive and endearing character. Also, Irene Bedard is one of my favorite actresses so in my opinion any movie she is in is a great one. Adam Beach gives a really good performance as Victor too. I would recommend this movie to everyone, regardless of what kind of movie you normally like. You get a good view of Native American culture, as well as a storyline that just about everyone can relate to.