Smoke Signals (film)

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Smoke Signals
Directed by Chris Eyre
Produced by Chris Eyre
Sherman Alexie
Carl Bressler
Larry Estes
Scott Rosenfelt
David Skinner
Written by Sherman Alexie
Starring Adam Beach
Evan Adams
Irene Bedard
Gary Farmer
Tantoo Cardinal
Music by B.C. Smith
Cinematography Brian Capener
Editing by Brian Berdan
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release date(s) June 26, 1998
Running time Approx 89 min.
Country United States
Canada
Language English
Budget $2,000,000 (est.)

Smoke Signals (1998) is an independent film directed and co-produced by Chris Eyre and with a screenplay by Sherman Alexie. Alexie also authored the short story collection on which the film is based, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. It won several awards and accolades, and was well-received at numerous film festivals. It is rated PG-13 for "Some intense images" by the MPAA.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The story centers around Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) and Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) on the Coeur D'Alene Indian Reservation in Plummer, Idaho. Thomas is the eccentric tribe storyteller and Victor is an assertive basketball player with a brooding disposition.

The two young men are linked through Victor's father, Arnold (Gary Farmer). Arnold rescued Thomas as an infant from a house fire that killed his parents. Consequently, Thomas considers him a hero. On the other hand, Victor, who endures Arnold's alcoholism, domestic violence, and eventually abandonment, regards his father with both deep love and bitter resentment. Thomas and Victor grow up together as neighbors and acquaintances, fighting with each other and simultaneously forming a close, albeit uneasy, alliance.

When Arnold dies in Phoenix, Arizona, where he has settled after separating from Victor's mother Arlene (Tantoo Cardinal), Victor and Thomas embark on a cross-country journey to retrieve his ashes and belongings. The trip turns out to be a soul-searching endeavour for both men. Neither of them lose sight of their identity as "Indians", but their perspectives differ. Victor is more stoic and pragmatic, and Thomas is more idealistic and traditional (and romantic to the point of watching the feature film Dances with Wolves countless times). This dichotomy continues all through the film and is the source of Victor's irritation with Thomas, and Thomas's fascination with Victor.

Once in Phoenix, Victor must confront his conflicted feelings toward his father, as well as his own identity. He also must grapple with information provided to him by his father's friend, Suzie Song (Irene Bedard); namely, the true origins of the fire that killed Thomas' parents. Arnold, drunk one night, accidentally shot off a firework into the living room window, causing the fire in his neighbors house. The trip turns out to ultimately cure Victor's brooding disposition toward life and shows him why his father became an alcoholic, was abusive, and eventually left their family. The film concludes with Victor achieving a better understanding of Thomas and Thomas's unconditional reverence for Arnold.

[edit] Production

Alexie states in the official screenplay for the film that, "Smoke Signals is the first feature film written, directed, and co-produced by Indians to ever receive a major distribution deal. There have been many other Indian filmmakers, our elders, who made wonderful films that have been wrongfully ignored or dismissed. Our film would not have been possible without the filmmaking efforts of previous generations of Indian writers, directors, producers, and actors."[1]

[edit] Critical reception

[edit] Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes gave Smoke Signals an 86% rating with 24 fresh and four rotten reviews. [2] Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a rave review calling it, "unpretentious, funny and soulful [...] Well-acted, well- written, with spare, beautiful imagery."[3] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times describes Smoke Signals as, "a warm film of friendship and reconciliation, and whenever it refers to historic injustices or contemporary issues in Native American culture, it does so with wry, glancing humor. Smoke Signals is indeed poignant, but above all it's pretty funny."[4] Marc Savlov of the The Austin Chronicle describes the film as "poignant and slyly humorous" and is "alight with oddball nuances and wry observations." He also states that, "the cast is uniformly excellent in their roles, and Eyre's persistent use of long, trailing shots reinforces the story's elegiac tone. Simple and elegant, Smoke Signals is a delicious, heady debut that lingers long after the tale is told."[5]

Susan Tavernetti of the Palo Alto Weekly, gave the film a mixed review stating that, "although sometimes the attempt to break down stereotypes seems stilted and forced, more often the result is humorous." She also stated that, "Chris Eyre's direction establishes an uneven tone, allowing some actors to deliver performances bordering on broad caricature while others play their roles straight." She praised the opening and closing sequences which she stated, "beautifully combine poetic voice-overs with visual lyricism."[6] Paul Bond of the World Socialist Web Site was critical of Sherman Alexie's screenplay which he felt was not as strong as Alexie's short story collection upon which the film is based. Bond also felt the film made compromises based upon commercial pressures. [7]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Sherman Alexie, Smoke Signals: A Screenplay. (New York: Miramax, 1998):xi.
  2. ^ "Smoke Signals Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/smoke_signals/. Retrieved 05 February 2009. 
  3. ^ `Smoke' Causes Tears of Sadness, Joy
  4. ^ Smoke Signals: Stylish 'Signals' a Bittersweet Comedy About Friendship
  5. ^ Smoke Signals
  6. ^ Smoke Signals review
  7. ^ Stories from the reservation

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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