Tuesday, March 11, 2008

SXSW movie review and filmmaker/actor interviews: Older Than America

Heartfelt movie making with move you with its story.

By John P. Meyer

Photo by John P. Meyer

Tantoo Cardinal, Georgina Lightning and Dan Harrison

Georgina Lightning, Tantoo Cardinal and Dan Harrison invited me up to the penthouse suite in which they were conducting interviews following the world premiere of Georgina's directorial debut, Older Than America. (Tantoo and Dan co-star in the film.) Man, what a view from that place, 37 floors above downtown Austin. Nice digs if you can get 'em.

First, the film: Older Than America is a difficult movie to watch, because it purports to tell the true story of the abuses handed out by operators of the Catholic boarding schools established on Indian reservations across North America. From actual physical abuse to ongoing, institutionalized negative emotional programming, the movie makes the case that American Indians as individuals and communities have been ill-served and in fact damaged by the (presumably) good intentions of non-natives attempting to convert them to their religious beliefs and absorb them into their society.

The movie counts among its cast several high-profile actors, including Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers), Wes Studi (Last of the Mohicans), Bradley Cooper (Will Tippen from Alias) and a guy whose name I'll bet you don't know but who you'd immediately recognize if you saw him on the street (and then you'd probably cross to the other side to avoid him, because that's the kind of evil bastard characters he plays): Chris Mulkey. In this movie he plays the evil bastard mayor of the town in northeastern Minnesota where the action takes place.

Georgina plays Rain, a young woman whose mother has been institutionalized for years due to her supposed delusional episodes. Her mom's sister, Auntie Apple (Tantoo Cardinal) has been deluded by her priest (Stephen Yoakam, as Father Bartoli) into thinking that the right thing for her sister is incarceration in a mental hospital, along with the attendant barbaric treatments. In fact, Father Bartoli is attempting to keep Rain's mom from revealing the abuses dished out to kids at the boarding school under his and previous administrations. Oh, and the good father is sleeping with Auntie Apple, which goes a long way towards advancing his doctrine.

There's a backstory involving a geologist (played by Mr. Cooper) and a love interest for Rain in the person of Johnny (Mr. Beach). Mr. Studi plays a radio talk show host who refers to himself as "the voice of the Res." He's in league, monetarily, with the powers-that-be, including the no good mayor who's trying to redevelop the land on which the old boarding school is crumbling away. There's ghosts aplenty in the place, it turns out, and undiscovered graves. And then there's the mysterious character of Walter (Dan Harrison), who keeps popping up where no one expects him to dish out wisdom and secret knowledge - kind of a spirit guide.

While there are weaknesses in the plot and execution such as one might expect from a first-time writer/director (she co-scripted with professional screenwriter Christine Walker), nevertheless the film succeeds in leaving one both shaken and stirred, and sympathetic to the plight of those who may have been traumatized by the treatment portrayed. If most of the Anglo characters in the film come off as condescending and rude, I'm guessing that - sadly - that's an accurate reflection of the experiences of the filmmakers.

There are a good many glimpses of traditional American Indian ceremonies in the film, which adds another level of interest - you'll even get an up-close and personal view of the Sun Dance, that rather gruesome ritual you might remember from A Man Called Horse.

At core, the film makes a good case for leaving native cultures alone - they've developed their spiritual traditions because they work for their people, and the misguided efforts of those attempting to make them change their ways have done far more bad than good.

SIGN IN CATHOLIC MISSION BOARDING SCHOOL: "Kill the Indian, Save the Man."

WELL, MAYBE THEY ARE: "White folks set one foot on the reservation and they start acting like they're on peyote." - Johnny (Adam Beach) to Luke, the government geologist (Bradley Cooper)

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• Arts > Movies / Film > Independent Films
• Arts > SXSW > Film

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