Smoking Signals 1998 Independent Film - Essay Example

due The film: Smoking Signals Smoke signals is a 1998 independent film based on the short story ‘‘This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona’’ from the book Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. This film is directed and co-produced by Chris Eyrie. It is an 89 minutes film that has five characters that play different roles and portray different characteristics. My goal in this paper is to try interpreting the movie in terms of the values and perceptions of the Native Americans and theme of the movie. This film is humorous but serious in its own way. It is known as the first full-length film to be almost entirely written, directed, co-produced and acted by Native American. It tries to explore the complex character of indigenous relationships, cultures and modern realities specifically the relationship between the fathers and sons in Native America. It is the story of one young Native man called Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) who stays with his mother Arlene (Tantoo Cardinal) in Idaho on the Coer d’Alene Indian Reservation and he has always abhorred his father and is trying to forgive him. After Victor finds out in the beginning of the film that Arnold his father is dead, he and Thomas his childhood friend set on a journey to pick his father’s ashes. During their journey, the two friends struggle with the constraints of forgiveness even as Victor begins to heal. It starts in the reservation in 1998 and there is a flashback to the 4th of July 1976 when there was a celebration of the “white man’s Independence Day”. It included holding the largest house party. As Thomas narrates over the image of a burning house. Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer) accidentally sets fire to his neighbor’s house. The fire was uncontrollable and it ended up killing the couple who lived there but their baby was rescued by Joseph from the inferno after Thomas the baby was thrown out of the second story window from the burning house. The lucky rescued baby; Thomas (Evan Adams) is raised together with Victor who are almost of the same age by his grandmother. The grandmother offered her appreciation to Victor for saving Thomas and she told him he had done a good thing, but Arnold replied amidst tears that he did not mean to save Thomas. This tension which is the result of Arnold’s admission that he never intended to do good sets the tone for the entire film. Joseph shaves his hair in mourning but keeps drinking in desperation due to the inferno and its results. When Victor at 12 years old sees how his parents drunk, he got really angry one night and smashed all their beer bottles. That reaction from Victor was a wakeup call for his mother Arlene tries to insist that they should both stop drinking. She later on chases her husband out of the house as Victor watches and sobs and Arnold never returns. The remaining part of the story unfolds in the abandoned area where Joseph lived in a trailer and made friends with Suzy Song who is a young Indian woman whose origin is New York. As they travelled to Arizona, Victor reprimands Thomas for being too nice and naïve. He tells Thomas that he should not trust anybody. It is true Thomas is naïve but he is a born story teller who has a story for every occasion. But his stories really annoyed Victor since they brought painful memories from his childhood like the moment he saw Arnold leave after hitting his mother. His stories included both lies and truths but the story he narrated to Victor about his father brought dignity on Arnold and the truth about him. Victor on the other hand was proud and found pleasure in confrontation. But these stories softened Victor’s heart as the film continued and led to him accepting his father as he was with his shortcomings and opened up a path for forgiveness and healing. Thomas’ kindness and generosity overcomes Victor’s cynicism and disillusionment which provides healing for Victor in the end. As the film ends Thomas is heard saying “How do we forgive our fathers?... if we forgive our fathers, what is left?”The main theme of this movie is fatherhood, forgiveness and freedom. As Sandoval wrote in his 2008 article review, “Teaching Smoke Signal”; Forgiveness is not a magical panacea and those who forgive are not morally or ethically superior to those who do not. Forgiveness can potentially free people from anger, hate and rage however…” (Sandoval). Victor epitomizes this process .the moment Victor realizes from Suzy the reason why the fire that killed Thomas’ parent started all those years ago, his hatred towards the father begins to diminish. He starts seeing his father in a new and better way due to the facts that jumble his memories. The truth frees Victor from the grudge towards his father and his frustration with Thomas. The absence of the father figure or presence of an abusive father is shown by Arnold and his relationship with his son. The movie tries to speak to the troubles of Native American men. In Native America, the father/son relationship is very important. Since they faced a lot of issues which included the near eradication of their traditional cultures due to relocation, racial cleansing and genocide and devastation of their familial structures due to alcoholism. For instance Victor is a cold bitter young man who does not communicate about his emotions after the death of his father. The love/hate relationship with his father and the irony that he has to bring his father home. He directed these emotions at Thomas through abusive outbursts. This movie gives us a glimpse into the present-day Native America and also helps show the struggles the indigenous people go through in the attempt of trying to retain their cultural identity and their race as they are faced with so many obstacles. It also shows that Native American men face some of the same troubles other American men endure. Smoke signals show the potential to cut off the ‘color’ line for the Native American film makers. Humor is portrayed in different ways, there is the odd behavior of the woman who only drives her car backwards; Thomas insistence in wearing black suits and vests everywhere and the reservation radio announcing that it’s “a good day to be indigenous” The use of under played one liners also bring humor in the film: Victor tells Thomas that he should stop smiling and be ‘stoic’ if he wants to be a real Indian; “the only thing more pathetic than watching Indians on TV is Indians watching Indians on TV” and the suggestions that Victor and Thomas need a passport to the United states after leaving the reservation. The shortcoming of this film is that although it tries to illustrate the father/son relationship among the Native Americans but the main character is superficially conceived thus not bringing out the force of his culture or ethnicity. And the edition of the film is poor, especially some of the ellipses are so harsh that you have to remind yourself where you were in the last scene and the convincing performance by Adams, Suzy and Farmer are not so memorable due to the roaming of the story. In conclusion, the film despite its shortcomings provides the viewers with the message and entertainment at the same time. It shows the Indian culture and the freedom that comes with forgiveness. Work cited Armbruster-Sandoval, Ralph. Teaching Smoke Signals: Fatherhood, Forgiveness, And "Freedom". Wicazo Sa Review 23.1 (2008): 123-146. Web. Eyre, Chris. "Smoke Signals." YouTube. N.p., June 1998. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. . Grennan, Eamon. Smoke Signals. The Hudson Review 57.1 (2004): 99. Web. Read More