Dreamkeeper
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Movie Reviews of Dreamkeeper
Movie Review: boo, amazon reviewer
Summary: 5 Stars
This Amazon reviewer guy obviously has no clue about what this story is actually about, or why the film format is really groundbreaking for Native American film and DOES work, wonderfully. It really isn't a typical Hallmark film. He thinks the special effects are cheesy because he doesn't understand these stories that are being told... and missed the humor of a lot of it. It's not about "myths" in the way that White people see myths. It's about how story is life. THIS IS NOT A CHEESY HALLMARK MOVIE. It's really artfully done and is not a typical TV movie about why mainstream culture should loooove those Interesting and Spiritual Native Americans. I hope this film won't get labeled as a Nice Family Film About Myths. The only reason it's a TV movie by Hallmark is probably because this was the only way to fund such a high-budget Native film. What's too bad about that is that it won't get seen by the independent/art film crowd who might give it the awards that it deserves.
Honestly, not to offend anyone, but I think that this film wasn't made for White people, it's really more for Native people who will understand its importance. It's kind of how there are a lot of important films about White people/white american culture FOR White people who share the culture of the characters that other people can watch and either misunderstand (due to lack of understanding of white american culture) or try to view it in its context and understand the white perspective.
In the same way, this film needs to be seen in its own context, apart from the fact that it was shown on TV and laced with commercials aimed at mainstream America, or that its being sold as a Hallmark movie. A lot of these stories told by the Grandfather are becoming less and less told, and now are preserved for the younger generations in a way that still respects the 'oral tradition' that they come from. I hope that eventually the film will be treated more seriously, and that all those serious film critic-types will give it more attention and recognize all the creative and profound things that are going on in the structure and plot and cinematography.
Movie Review: Outstanding!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me first preface this by stating that I am one of those people much more interested in contemporary Native American issues such as water/ land rights and language retention than I am in the spirituality stuff. The way I see it is that for every European like me there are probably a hundred that are awaiting a wizened medicine man to tell them all the secrets of the universe and bless them with long life...blah, blah, blah.....
Taking this into account I was a little bit cautious about 'Dreamkeeper' which I received as a Christmas present from my sister. How very pleasantly suprised I was. The story starts on the Pine Ridge Reservation and a young man - Shane - being co-erced by his mother into taking his Grandfather hundreds of miles away to the All Nations Powwow in New Mexico. Shane reluctantly agrees and so the real story starts.
Along the trip the Grandfather - a storyteller - relates stories that are relevant to Shane in understanding events happening in his own life and that of some of the people they meet along the way. I won't divulge too much else about the story except to say that Shane meets his estranged father and there is a reconciliation between the two. By the end of the trip Shane has also 'found' that there is more to himself than he believed.
The stories presented are great in terms of detail to attention, covering a broad breadth of Native American cultures and never neglecting humour - love the ugly woman in the cave. The acting performances are exceptional; Eddie Spears who plays Shane makes an excellent stroppy teenager (I work with them on a daily basis!). Sheila Tousey is as excellent as ever - has that woman ever acted anything less than superbly?
I cannot recommend this film highly enough, it explores so many issues and emotions like hope, faith, desire, anger and in a simple yet meaningful way. It will appeal to most new-ager types, but given my own respect for the film it will also appeal to a much broader spectrum of people.
Movie Review: Entertaining, enlightening, and relevant!
Summary: 5 Stars
This excellent movie has so many fine reviews here, that I couldn't read them all, and needn't add one.
But I think we are all writing about it because it is so thrilling to us, we have to say something!
The 17 year old grandson is in trouble in this modern life, and rejects his grandfather's devotion to "the Red Road" and the stories which form its core and guidance, as irrelevant to the sad state of Native American existence. The family has been abandoned by his father, a victim of alcoholism, and suffers from the shame of it. (Remember the abandoning father theme of Smoke Signals as well?)
The old ways didn't give strength and guidance to his father, what do these stories offer him, except a cruel reminder of the weakness and irrelevance of his cultural background?
During a journey to transport his grandfather the storyteller to the big Powwow, and their pony to sell there, grandfather tells 12 stories from different native cultures, all extremely thrilling, exciting, and colorful, and each one addresses a different concern of the grandson! By the end of the film, grandson has become a hero who saves the gang members who were trying to kill him, causing them to reconcile with him; learned respect and generosity toward the dorky white boy who wants to become a wide-eyed participant in Indian culture as he idealizes it; has met and reconciled with the father he was hating, who is likewise clued in by grandfather, and promises to return and walk the Red Road; has found pride in himself and his background; has learned to love and respect Grandfather and make the role he chose his own; and sees himself as a seeker of the Red Road on a vision quest. And the pony will not be sold!
The wisdom of Grandfather and that inherent in traditional cultures is fresh and exciting, and the movie is as entertaining as you can get!
Movie Review: This is a DVD worth owning - the stories will stay with me
Summary: 5 Stars
The three hour length made me put off watching this DVD (it's actually from a television miniseries), but once I started watching, the time passed quickly (although I did watch it in two segments). At the risk of sounding crass, it reminded me a bit of some of the Disney efforts of the fifties to teach children folk tales and legends (Paul Bunyon, Johnny Appleseed, etc.), only the tales and legends are from the Native American tradition, and very authentic, as I understand it. The director makes use of modern techniques to create special effects (helpful as some of the legends involve supernatural effects, such as a rock turning into a bear).
This is basically a road trip story, with an old Lakota man telling stories to his grandson as they drive from South Dakota to an All Nations Pow Wow in Santa Fe, NM. The young man is in trouble with a gang, so he's anxious to get out of town. The old man is trying to get the young man back on track, but instead of lecturing him, as they travel, he tells the young man stories from their tradition that make an appropriate point. When the young man starts to talk of his love for a woman (how he got in trouble to begin with), for example, his grandfather tells him a story from the tradition about a young man who loved a woman. The stories are fascinating and like all good stories, express universal truths, for example, that being able to have whatever you want doesn't lead to happiness.
I know the DVD cautions about children, but honestly, I had trouble thinking of ANYTHING in this film that might be objectionable. I guess there was one story that someone who was prudish might have trouble with, but given television these days -- including commercials -- I wouldn't hesitate to rate this as "family viewing." I expect I will be rewatching this in the future, and the stories -- and their lessons -- will stay with me.
Movie Review: A Gift Toward Understanding Native Stories -- Their Context in Sky, Soil, and the Struggle to be Two-Footed with Dignity
Summary: 5 Stars
If we feel our two-footedness, we are all natives on this planet. The richness of this perspective is uniquely spoken and palpably felt through these oral stories drawn from multiple Native American traditions.
One of the most convincing strengths for me was that 87 out of 88 actors/actresses were natives. Their consultation, as well as that of other native professionals throughout the film, was actively saught and heeded seriously. This diligence truly shows. Profoundly so. I was particularly intrigued when an elder and member of the acting team confirmed later (under added features) that the "white" film director consistently gave priority for their own way of expression rather than requiring scenes and lines be done to suit his preconceieved vision.
I am not a "native" in the sense this term is used here. Still, even when I felt like a guest, I knew I had been given a privileged glimpse of an ancient people's treasures, interwoven skillfully with modern life. I felt transported between past and present native reality, but more importantly into their "other worlds" of spirit, dreaming and sacred myths. While permitted to travelling along with a grandfather and his troubled grandson on this red path, I gained more connectedness and reverence.
Although the visual effects were indeed fascinating, for me the power of these stories would not have necessarily required such cinematics. At times I was almost a little overwhelmed/distracted by them.
The myths speak for themselves. I can easily appreciate that native peoples might encounter even deeper significance in them than I have, as an outsider. I am glad if this is so. I am also deeply thankful for the opportunity to have witnessed them too through the DreamKeeper!