The Education of Little Tree

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Summary: LIFE'S EXPERIENCES
Review: Nineteen hundred and thirty-five was a pivotal year for the eight year old boy called Little Tree. It was the time when his mountain grandfather and Cherokee grandmother came to retrieve him from a relative determined to break his spirit. These two remarkable people take their grandson into the mountains where his real education begins. Reminising about that time, the adult Little Tree's voice shares with us his story, his heritage and his determination to be the person that he is regardless of the hardships which come.

Listen to his story as we're taken into the Smokey Mountains of Tennesee where some Cherokees were fortunate to hide after being on the Trail of Tears. Hear Willow John's tale of his people that he passes down to Little Tree. In sharing the Cherokee story, Willow John insures that his people will never die. For their story lives in their young people who will carry it to their children.

The scenery of the Smoky mountains is fantastic. You get to know the mountain people during the depression. See grandfather make the best corn whisky in the area as he tries to hide from the revenuers. Feel the compassion that a young boy has for a little girl only to have the prejudice of her father stand in their way.

Learn the painful lesson of Native American children torn from their families, sent to a boarding school, stripped of their names and language and forced to suffer indignities which no child should suffer. Those sordid parts of American history makes you want to cry in sadness and anger. Little Tree is able to endure even at his young age due to those life's experiences and lessons taught to him from his grandparents. These lessons are not found in a book but are read from the heart.

This is an excellent movie that deals with identity, loss of innocence, prejudice, poverty and bureaucratic insensitivity. Through it all a young boy's spirit stays vibrant as ever. Sentimentality won't be found here. Love, dignity and pride are what endures. Take heart the lessons of Little Tree.

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Summary: Brittoney from Oklahoma
Review: Oh My gosh! I loved this movie sooooo much! It was my favorite movie. If you haven't seen it you have to. It's about a kid that does not want to live with his mean aunt and he goes to live with his grandparents that he adores. They adore him to. They teach him alot. He enjoyes it very much! He meets alot of new people. My favorite part is when his grandpa teaches him how to make moonshine. It is a very heart warming movie! I just love it! Thanx 4 reading!

Rating:
Summary: In the great understandin'
Review: Sometimes there are just things that hurt a heart beyond words. Beyond understandin'. And you can wait a real long time. Till one day day maybe or never, the understandin comes.

The Education of Little Tree came to me as an understandin.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable and Warm
Review: The Education of Little Tree is one of the best keeper movies I have had the pleasure of watching in years. My 18 year old son watched it 3 times in 2 days. My best friend loved it, and cried during some of the touching scenes. The few places where there are curse words used are unfortunate, as there are families who would completely enjoy this movie, but won't buy it because of a few words. I have native ancestry and thought this movie was respectful to my background. This movie left me warm and wanting more of the same.

Rating:
Summary: A moving, thought provoking "family "movie.
Review: The movie was funny, sad, and entertaining. The two best things about this movie were 1. It was real and not all"happy ending" 2.There were lessons in it to be learned by children and adults.The scenery was magnificent.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: The scenry was terrific. I've live in those mountains before and this movie truly captured the spirit that dwells there. It is very difficult to put into words. Apparantly Dana from Sharpsburg, GA doesn't like to face the reality of our "glorious" American heritage of rancid and destructive white European religious arrogance and racism. The movie really makes you wonder why did we as a people ever dismiss the native American way of life so out-of-hand. This is a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: Education We All Need!
Review: This is such a great movie! It is a good family movie, which is hard to come by anymore. It also shows the innocence of a child that is almost lost in our society today. It is so heart warming to see a movie where a child is happy with what he has or doesn't have. And he is so respectful of his elders and does not care if they are poor and don't have "book smarts". He just loves them for being who they are. Little Tree is not the only one being educated. We are all a little wiser after seeing this wonderful movie! This is definately a must see!

Rating:
Summary: Must See
Review: This is the kind of movie that I love even more each time I watch it. It is an education for us all. Maybe Dana Spears didn't realize that this story is an autobiography. The author, Forrest Carter, lived this life and I think he tells the story so beautifully. If certain people are depicted in an unflattering light, it is because they lived their lives that way. It is a story for all generations to watch and enjoy. My children, myself as well as my father, have all thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Movie
Review: This movie is very heartwarming about love and family but also heartbreaking.

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Summary: Life from another perspective
Review: This movie is very powerful. One to make you stop and think how intolerant we have been in the past. I felt that it accurately portrayed the book. (Something that very few movies can pull off.) It allows you to see the "Trail of Tears" in a whole new perspective. The acting is well done, and the profound, homespun wisdom should make us all miss a venerable, aged loved one that has passed onto their own "understanding." If you want a good heart-warming story that will bring the tears to you and teach your children sound morals, it doesn't get much better than this. WATCH IT!