Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Smoke Signals (1998) Directed by Chris Eyre from the book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven" by Sherman Alexie
"You know there are some children who aren't really children at all; they're just pillars of flame that burn everything they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that fall apart when you touch them... Victor and me, we were children of flame and ash." Thomas Builds-the-fire.
This is an oral tradition rendered visual. It is the first movie written, directed, and acted by Native Americans. It's nice they tell us, but after you see this, you know. You sense the authenticity; too many elements of the inside joke permeate the fabric for it not to be tribal. Like the DJ says, "It's a good day to be Indigenous."
The Plot.
This story is woven from threads of the present, and the past. Like all tales, it starts in the past, on July the Fourth, 1976. The Builds-the-fire family has the biggest house party in Coeur d' Alene tribal history. Sadly, they also had the biggest house fire that night at three a.m. Trapped by the flames, they threw their infant son, Thomas, out the second floor window. He was caught by Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer, Cayuga nation and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy). Arnold has a son about the same age, Victor.
The boys grew up very different. Thomas (Simon Baker, Cree) was raised by his Grandmother (Monique Mojica) and grew to be a soft gentle child, full of stories and insight, but not much silence or discretion. Victor (Cody Lightning, Plains Cree) has both a father and a mother (Tantoo Cardinal, Cree and French), but his father is vanishing slowly inside himself. His father laughs, and does magic tricks, but his rage appears like a rabbit from a hat, and slowly he drives himself away from the family. His rage is his legacy to his son.
Ten years later, Victor (Adam Beach, Saulteaux, who plays Jim Chee in the Tony Hillerman mysteries and starred in Windtalkers) is a surly but charismatic young man. He smiles easily, scowls often. Thomas (Evan Adams, Coastal Salish) is a huge nerd. He wears his hair in tight braids, wears a suit, and thick glasses. His manner is that of an older man; full of stories and parables, but without an older man's sensitivity, or ability to hold his tongue.
When Arnold Joseph dies, Victor needs to travel to Phoenix Arizona to retrieve his ashes. The problem is how. The answer is Thomas Builds-the-fire. Thomas has the money for bus tickets. There is just one catch...Thomas has to go along too.
And that is what happens. Angry, hurt Victor and chatterbox nerd Thomas take a road trip.
The Analysis
That does not sound like a great movie, but it is. The action is in the dialogue, and in the flashbacks. One thing about this movie is the wonderful seamless way it segues from present to past. Victor the stud will slam out of the house, but it Victor the kid who emerges into the yard. A basketball thrown by Arnold years ago is caught by Victor today.
The cinematography is also great. The reservation in Idaho is poor in material wealth, but rich in emptiness, and they use that. Like the traffic reports from a van that has been broken down at the same intersection in the middle of nowhere since 1972. The radio is empty of interest, and yet somehow, they use that, and make it interesting. They are defined by the emptiness around them, just as Victor is defined by the emptiness his father created.
The there are the inside jokes. Lucy and Velma drive around the reservation in reverse. Is the car broken? Or is it for the entertainment value? There is no explanation offered. Incidentally, Lucy is played by the delightful Elaine Miles (Cayuse-Nez Perce Indian) who was Marilyn Whirlwind on Northern Exposure. The boys playing basketball use the drumming of the dribbling ball to set the rhythm of their traditional song about playing basketball, and being guarded by Custer. And then there is the song about John Wayne's teeth on the bus, their revenge for the cowboys taking their seats.
And the psychology of the piece is flawlessly indigenous. Thomas might seem like a spaz who does not know how to shut up, but his stories have a purpose. He is trying, desperately, to help Victor with his pain. Thomas will make a fine Medicine Man someday. Or a shrink. Or both.
There is also a homosexual subtext to the boys' relationship. Thomas loves Victor. He may know there is a sexual component, or he may not. Victor knows. He does not reciprocate, and sometimes he tries to drive Thomas away, but by the end, I think he realizes he loves Thomas too, if platonically. There is in many Indigenous American Aboriginal societies a tradition of the homosexual being a spiritual leader. As someone between the worlds of men and women, they were useful in helping men and women both understand each other. They were called berdache, and I think Thomas will make a wonderful one. Together, they discover the father who left, and help Victor to forgive him.
The closing music deserves a note; All My Relations is sung in native language, native structure. But the tune is the Celtic Garryowen. It is interesting to note the song was a favorite of General George Custer, and was the last thing played before the battle of the Little Big Horn.
[Velma and Lucy drop Thomas and Victor at the bus station] Velma: You guys got your passports? Thomas Builds-the-Fire: Passports? Velma: Yeah, you're leavin' the rez and goin' into a whole different country, cousin. Thomas Builds-the-Fire: But... but, it's the United States. Lucy: Damn right it is! That's as foreign as it gets. Hope you two have your vaccinations!
Winner of the Audience Award and the Filmmaker s Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, and the official selection for opening night of the 1998 N...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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