Tamara Podemski in Four SheetsFour Sheets to the Wind is the kind of native American film I've been waiting to see for a long time now. It's a film involving native Americans but not about them. Essentially, they are seen as persons first, native second. A few references are made to the fact that they are Seminoles (rightly dubbed the "unconquered people") but that's it. This is primarily a small story about how a family copes with the untimely loss of their father and it's a beautiful, natural movella (movie novella) of sorts. It's as though you're simply dropping in on real people with real lives and you're just along on the ride for a little while.
The ultra-natural performances by Podemski (Saulteaux/Israeli) and Lightning (Plains Cree) are top notch and are the ones that primarily connected me to their struggle. But another background standout was Jeri Arredondo as their mother; however brief, her presence seemed to anchor the cast as well as the family. This is writer-director Sterlin Harjo's first feature outing and an incredible debut at that; he has a distinctive voice that seems to speak the truth and cinema could always use more honesty. He is currently writing Barking Water according to IMDB; it doesn't state whether or not he's directing it but regardless, I'm looking forward to his next work.
2 comments:
I really enjoyed watching this film like you did. It is very honest and that's what I like about it most. The lady who plays the mother, Jerri Arredondo, is in another film that I recommend you see if you haven't already. Its called the Doe Boy. Pretty good Native film, another coming of age story (we Natives like those types of stories. lol). I also recommend a film called Dancing Outside. I've had a hard time finding it cause I don't think it has been released to DVD yet though it was made a while ago. I've also seen a few really good documentaries about really interesting issues in contemp. Native life/culture that you might like.
Hi stargazer, I tried looking up Dancing Outside but were you referring to Dance Me Outside? If you were, yes, I love that movie! My girlfriend had an old copy of it burnt on DVD and it was great. I looked it up just now and was pleasantly surprised to see it's going to be released July 8 this year.
Thank you for recommending The Doe Boy. It looks like it will be great and I look forward to renting it soon. Please feel free to suggest anything else or share your opinions.
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