Co-directed and starring Tom Laughlin, Billy Jack is a half-breed native American who has fought in the Vietnam war and has strong tribal ties to the land he defends. Who he specifically defends it against are the sheriff and his goons if you will who have no regard for tribal boundaries or the people; it's not just natives either as he goes on to attack an entire school. And herein lies the genesis of the story.
Billy Jack is of a series I've learned; the character is first introduced in a motorcycle flick called The Born Losers. Feeling very anti-establishment and "hippie", there's a lot of support for Mary Jane sprinkled here and there. All the while, Billy uses his Hapkido skills to take down corrupted officials and the law. Yea, it's a strange little film but surprisingly, it wasn't really campy at all although it seemed wavering; for a strong message film, it has an unmistakable midnight movie/exploitation feel through and through. But perhaps those were the very people Billy most connected with at that point in time.
Spoilers herein ***
I first developed an interest in this after reading a book called Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog. She describes a day she, her husband Leonard, and their friends decide to go watch Billy Jack. They spoke about how the final shootout reminded them of the ordeal they faced during the Wounded Knee Incident of 1973 in which natives held out against government forces packed to the brim with artillery for about a month. They go on to say in comparison to that, Billy had it easy. And I must concur.
In regards to cultural presence, there are some interesting scenes although I'm skeptical about its authenticity. One involves an Indian Snake Ceremony in which a man who wishes to prove himself must stand within the proximity of a snake at all times and allow himself to be bitten multiple times; according to the intro credits, the consultant was Rolling Thunder of the Shoshone. Another is the Wovoka Friendship Dance and resembled Smithson's Spiral Jetty in formation. This one was consulted by a member of the Paiute. I wish they could've shown these in their entirety but I understand for the purposes of telling the bigger picture, they must be edited to serve that end.
This is a decent movie but I'd only recommend it to those who have a strong taste for cult or exploitation. And even then, it may not particularly satisfy as I've mentioned before: it stands on middle ground and seems somewhat content with staying that way. I suppose one could say that's a nod to Billy himself.
6 comments:
I can tell you with certainty that the scenes with the native american ceremonies in them WERE authentic. In fact, you can hear it from the horses mouth(es) (Tom Laughlin & Delores Taylor) if you just rent the movie and watch with the commentary on. Tom & Delores tell the whole story of making that movie AND tell the stories about the ceremonies and the tribal people who performed them. It WAS the "real deal".
P.S.
That was actually Wovoka standing on the wall above, looking down on it all watching/overseeing the dance as it was being done/filmed!
Thanks for confirming J2dogs. I wrote this review immediately after I watched it. Unfortunately, the disc I rented didn't have commentary and it only contained the film and chapter selections.
As for Wovoka, I believe you may be misinformed in regards to that. I know of a Wovoka who founded the Ghost Dance Movement; he was Northern Paiute but he died in 1932. Perhaps the one you refer to is a descendant? Any follow up would be much appreciated though.
Yep, your right as my memory can be off sometimes -lol-. But it was someone of importance and now I have the urge to pull out the DVD set and watch it again just to find out. Thanks :-) In case your interested, there are a couple sequels of Billy Jack.
By the way, I bet you might enjoy the commentary from Tom Laughlin being into film and all. He was pretty interesting to listen to as he made that whole movie basically on a shoe string budget by himself.
Thanks again and I'll try to find a DVD with the commentary. I'm always interested in production stories - especially those with small budgets and peculiar origins.
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