Main Cast: Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
This dramatic feature was written, directed, and co-produced by Native Americans. Native American writer Sherman Alexie scripted this adaptation of his 1993 short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Director Chris Eyre's previous short Someone Kept Saying Powwow is incorporated into the 88-minute feature. Developed at the Sundance Lab in 1995, the film was a winner of both the Audience Award and the Filmmakers' Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. In 1976, an infant survives a fire that kills his parents. In a flash forward to the present day, the infant has grown up to become the skinny, nerdy adult Thomas (Evan Adams). At Idaho's desolate Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation, the overeager youth is mostly ignored by others, including stoic athletic Victor Joseph (Adam Beach), even though it was Victor's father, alcoholic Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), who saved the infant Thomas' life in the fire. A drunken Arnold later abandoned his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father in a decade. When Victor learns of Arnold's death in Phoenix, Thomas offers to pay for the trip to Phoenix if he can accompany Victor. They make an odd couple since Victor is embarrassed by Thomas' geekiness. In Phoenix, they find that Arnold lived in a small trailer in the desert, and they meet Arnold's friend Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), who provides disturbing truths about Arnold that impact on Victor. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
Smoke Signals gained notoriety for being the first major release to be directed by, written by, and star Native Americans. While the film takes a look at the many factors affecting the Native American community (alcoholism, reservation life), it also addresses in pointed, but not overbearing, ways the history of the Native American onscreen. The two lead characters represent these two areas of concern. Evan Adams, in a performance that should have received deafening praise, delivers Thomas' wonderful stories ("fine examples of the oral tradition") with a joy that is infectious. This character presents a strong argument that Native Americans were born to tell stories, so why should anyone question them directing movies? Adam Beach's Victor makes the difficult emotional journey in the film. He must learn to make peace with his personal history after his estranged, alcoholic father dies. His anger and stoicism are real, but they are also the masks of a young man who has hid from himself for too long. The character arguably represents the filmmakers' attitude toward their own history. What makes Smoke Signals special is that, while addressing specific aspects of Native American life, it is so universal. Everyone must confront where they came from (both personally and as a people) at some point in life. Smoke Signals should not be praised for being a Native American movie; it should be praised for being a warm, humorous, truthful film about people. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Cody Lightning - Young Victor Joseph; Simon Baker - Young Thomas Builds-the-Fire; Michelle St. John - Velma; Robert Miano - Burt; Molly Cheek - Penny; Monique Mojica - Grandma Builds-the-Fire; Elaine Miles - Lucy; Michael Greyeyes - Junior Polatkin; Leonard George - Lester Fallsapart; John Trudell - Randy Peone; Darwin Haine - Boo; Tom Skerritt - Police Chief; Cynthia Geary - Cathy The Gymnast; Perrey Reeves - Holly
Credit
Jonathon Saturen - Art Director, Randy Suhr - Associate Producer, Roger Baerwolf - Associate Producer, Coreen Mayrs - Casting, Sherman Alexie - Co-producer, Chris Eyre - Co-producer, Ron Leamon - Costume Designer, Jo Shilling - First Assistant Director, Chris Eyre - Director, Randy Suhr - Second Unit Director, Brian Berdan - Editor, Carl Bressler - Executive Producer, David Skinner - Executive Producer, Brent Morris - Line Producer, B.C. Smith - Composer (Music Score), Charles Armstrong - Production Designer, Brian Capener - Cinematographer, Scott Rosenfelt - Producer, Larry Estes - Producer, Dawn Ferry - Set Designer, Douglas Tourtelot - Sound/Sound Designer, Sherman Alexie - Screenwriter, Sherman Alexie - Book Author
Smoke Signals (1998) is an independent film directed 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.
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 stoical 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 Victors 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.
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]
Critical reception
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]
1998 – First Americans in the Arts: Outstanding Achievement in Writing (Sherman Alexie), Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Film (Evan Adams), Outstanding Achievement in Directing (Chris Eyre)
1998 – San Diego World Film Festival: Best American Independent Feature; Best Screenplay (Sherman Alexie); Best Actor (Adam Beach); Best Director (Chris Eyre)
1998 – Sundance Film Festival: Filmmaker's Trophy (Chris Eyre); Audience Award. Nominations: Grand Jury Prize
1998 – Taos Talking Picture Festival: Taos Land Grant Award (Chris Eyre)
1999 – Independent Spirit Awards: Best Debut Performance (Evan Adams). Nominations: Best Supporting Male nomination (Gary Farmer), Best First Screenplay nomination (Sherman Alexie)
1999 – Young Artist Awards: Nominations: Best Performance in a Feature Film-Supporting Young Actor (Cody Lightning)
Notes
^ Sherman Alexie, Smoke Signals: A Screenplay. (New York: Miramax, 1998):xi.
