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Actors: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Gary Farmer, Irene Bedard
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Smoke Signals |
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In the late 1990s, handsome and brooding Victor Joseph (Beach) and nerdy Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Adams) are best buddies on the Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) reservation. Both were saved from a burning house by Victor's father Arnold as children in 1976, but Arnold succumbed to alcohol and unemployment, and eventually deserted the family. Now Victor, who hasn't seen Arnold in at least 10 years, gets word his father has died in the Southwest. The two buddies hit the road to locate the body and bring it home. This warm, offbeat 1998 comedy, was the first feature film written, directed, and co-produced by Native Americans. It's a quiet, lovely low-budget movie.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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“Smoke Signals” is Chris Eyre's 1998 directorial debut. Like Eyre's subsequent film “Skins,” it is written, directed and acted entirely by Native Americans, smashing stereotypes with humor, pathos and real-life dilemmas.
It's July 4, 1976, the “white man's Independence Day” on the Coeur D'Alene (Idaho) Indian rez. Familyman Joseph Andrew (Farmer) does the “one good thing in his life,” catching the infant Thomas Builds-The-Fire (Adams) as he is thrown from a burning house. We later learn that Joseph ran back in to save his own son Victor (Beach). Over the years, Joseph blames himself for not doing more and lives with guilt, drinks, and is generally a bad father until he abandons his family altogether. When we learn he has died in Arizona, Victor must go claim his father's things. But since gabby Thomas has the bus fare and has never been off the rez, he insists on accompanying Victor. Thus begins a road movie with two dissimilar young Indian men having only in common that their lives were saved by the same man.
Heading for Phoenix, we sense some sarcastic resentment among the Indians, (“got your passports? The United States is as foreign as it gets.)” On the bus, we learn much from imaginative storyteller Thomas who initiates riotous exchanges with Victor when he instructs him to “look like you just killed a buffalo.” –“But our tribe were fisherman.” “–Fishermen!? Well this ain't ‘Dances With Salmon.'”
When the pair arrives in Phoenix we meet Joseph's lover, Suzy, who insists she knew Joseph better than anyone, including the truth about the July 4th fire, as many of Thomas' uncertainties suddenly become clear. Back home, Thomas presents Victor a gift for everything he's helped him see; a personal gift which will help him ponder, “how do we forgive our fathers?”
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Smoke Signals |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
- present (2000-2010)
Family, loving
Yes
Special relationship with
- father
Road trip
Yes
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- American Indian
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- American Indian
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) very skinny
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- American Indian
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- unemployed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- American Indian
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- druggie/wino disease
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
- Pacific NW
- Southwest
Desert?
Yes
City?
Yes
City:
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
Misc setting
- moving train
- school
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
If lots of song/dance...
- lot of singing
If this is a kid's movie...
- Ages 10-15
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Folk music
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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