| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Smoke Signals (1998) |
| Director | Chris Eyre |
| Writer | Sherman Alexie (screenplay), based on his short story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” |
| Lead Actor | Adam Beach |
| Cast | Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal |
| Genre | Drama, Comedy |
| Release Date | September 18, 1998 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 31m (91 min) |
| Budget | $2 million (approx.) |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 7.2/10 |
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SMOKE SIGNALS is an intriguing first movie written, produced and directed and largely acted by Native Americans. It’s also a double prizewinner at Sundance that writer Sherman Alexie and director Chris Eyre crafted to shatter stereotypes and appeal to the mainstream audience.
Easy and fun, the movie also has an aura of reality. The theme is reconciliation with an alcoholic father. Wryly, he resents his fate, talks about “vanishing,” and wishes he could make “whole peoples vanish to where they came from,” including Catholics.
He has indeed vanished, for a decade. Two 20 something friends, raised by him, leave the remote Coeur d’Alene reservation in Idaho to travel to a trailer camp outside Phoenix where (the family learns) he has died. They get a glimmer of understanding why he left, helped by Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), a young woman who loved him.
Victor asks Suzy if his dad ever talked about him. She recalls a cherished anecdote about a two on one basketball game father and son once played against some young Jesuits. “For at least one day,” the father said, “with the Indians against the Christians, the Indians won.”
There is tragedy and some violence in the family history, but much of the present is warm and humorous. The young men are each likable but opposites. Victor (Adam Beach) is athletic and handsome. The bespectacled Thomas (Evan Adams) is a dreamer and storyteller.
Victor is frustrated by Thomas, his “uncoolness” and his strange conversations and visions. But he endures Thomas because he needs him and enjoys him. Hopefully, not the last film to bring moviegoers into contact with the humanity of contemporary Native Americans. Insightful and accessible; recommended for mature youth and adults.
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