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Siskel & Ebert

Review of Smoke Signals
June 28, 1998

Siskel: Our next film comes from a fresh source--Native America. Smoke Signals is a movie that follows a couple of guys traveling cross country from Idaho to Phoenix and talking about their families and personal dreams. The young men, who grew up together, are named Victor Joseph and Thomas Builds-the-Fire. He's the one with the braids. And they are on a journey to pick up the cremated remains of Victor's estranged father.

film clip:
Victor: Don't you even know how to be a real Indian?
Thomas: I guess not.
Victor: Aw shit, no wonder. Jeez, I guess I'll have to teach you then, enit?
[Thomas nods eagerly]
Victor: First of all, quit grinning like an idiot. Indians ain't supposed to smile like that. Get stoic.
Siskel: Here we meet the father's Arizona friend, Suzy, played by actress Irene Bedard, best known for providing the voice and the facial model for the animated film Pocahontas.
film clip:
Suzy: There were mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters. There were some sweethearts. And then there was your father and me.
Victor: And what were you two?
Suzy: We kept each other's secrets.
Siskel: Back to the travelers, played by Adam Beach and Evan Adams. Here's a rare recommendation from me: I found these guys so engaging and so natural that I did not want this movie to end. In fact, I'm asking for a sequel.
film clip:
Thomas: Man, the cowboys always win.
Victor: The cowboys don't always win.
Thomas: Yeah they do, the cowboys always win. Look at Tom Mix.
Siskel: Another truly enjoyable surprise is the occasional appearance of a local radio traffic reporter, who hangs out at a lonely intersection and could easily end up being a cult figure.
film clip:
Lester Fallsapart: A couple of cars went by earlier. You know Old Mrs. Joe, she was speeding. And, uh, Kimmy and James, they went by in a yellow car and they were arguing. [pause] Ain't no traffic, really.
Siskel: One of the best moments in the film is a beautiful poem about fathers and sons that cuts to the heart of the conflicts in this film.
film clip:
Thomas (voiceover): How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often or forever when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all?
Siskel: Obviously, Smoke Signals is not, in any way, a standard film involving Native Americans. These are very specific characters, but not every utterance and every event in the film revolves around their Indian heritage. The result is to expand our notion of just who Native Americans are and can be. This thoroughly entertaining film Smoke Signals could turn out to be a milestone in Native American cinema. It could become the equivalent of the black cinema's She's Gotta Have It by Spike Lee in terms of contemporizing characters. Obviously, I'm giving a strong recommendation to Smoke Signals.

Ebert: I loved it, too. I'll tell you, Gene, the interesting thing here is that, for once, I felt I was seeing real Native Americans everyday, talking to each other, living life, without all kinds of filters of history and tradition and archetypes and stereotypes between me and the screen. These are just two people.

Siskel: People first!

Ebert: And that was really refreshing. And the acting is lots of fun, especially the smaller of the two actors, who can't stop talking and is really engaging.

Siskel: Oh, how about that traffic report? That's really good.

Ebert: He reports on every car that goes past and, if I lived in that area, I'd want to listen because then I'd find out where everyone was and where they were headed.

Siskel: I'll tell you this: somebody--in a big city, or preferably [?] a small city--should rip off this character. I'm talking about a radio station. You just plant someone at a random corner and have the guy describe every car that he sees go by. You'd have a major audience draw.

Ebert: Sounds good to me.