SMOKE SIGNALS

US, 1998, 89 minutes, Colour.
Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Tantoo Cardinal, Gary Farmer.
Directed by Chris Eyre

Victor (Adam Beach) and Thomas (Evan Adams) live in a culture which has impoverished the spirit of Native Americans. Their pilgrimage to recover the body of Victor’s father, Arnold Joseph, is an act of piety that redeems Victor, enabling him to grow as a person and to care for his mother.

The two young men at the centre of Smoke Signals have a wry conversation about the movies which show the clash between the whites and the Indians and about Indians watching them. This Hollywood lore began to change around 1950 but the deprivations of land and culture that the Indians experienced are still a significant part of the heritage. The young people joke about having a passport to leave the reservation, about getting their shots to go into a foreign land, the United States.

One of the greatest deprivations was the warrior’s loss of status and of traditional work. Arnold Joseph is the embodiment of this. He has no fixed job, he drinks, he leaves his family, he dies in exile. We finally discover that he was responsible for the fire that killed his friends. His son, Victor (whose name means a winner), remembers his love for his father, but clings to his bitterness about his abandoning him and his mother. It is only when he makes what becomes a pilgrimage to his father’s caravan, listens to Susan, who had befriended Arnold Joseph, and understands that his father truly loved him that he is able to be himself.

Forgiveness is the task for Victor, culminating in scattering his father’s ashes in the river. Despite the fact that Thomas’ stories drive him to distraction, he is lucky to have Thomas as friend, benefactor and wise fool. Thomas’ voiceover shows the positive side of those who are poor in spirit. Thomas has a complex simplicity. He knows how Arnold Joseph saved his life and befriended him. He knows the qualities of both Arnold and Victor and is the catalyst for Victor being able to come to terms with his past and look forward to a positive future.

One of the important parts of Victor’s future is his care for his mother. Thomas is able to say truly that an important part of his happiness is caring for his grandmother who is always eager (as she is at the very end of the movie), to welcome Thomas and listen to his stories. Arlene Joseph, on the other hand, has suffered the loss of her abusive husband. Victor is there but, as Thomas tells him, he is not there in spirit. At the end, Victor can truly love and support his mother.

1. Native American story, characters, traditions, issues?

2. Idaho, the Indian reservation, homes, the town, the roads? The American countryside in the West? Arizona? The musical score?

3. The title, Native American communication? The film offering signals?

4. The importance of storytelling, the oral tradition? Tommy and his frequent stories, his skill, his memory, enhancing memory, the images, the narratives? His discussions with his grandmother? His telling stories to Victor, Victor’s reaction, negative? The girl asking for a story before giving a lift? The elements and power of the story, her acceptance? Mentioning the oral tradition? Tommy telling stories to Victor on the way? To Susan in Arizona? The whole film and its storytelling?

5. The voiceover, the initial fire, its intensity, the later explanations as to the accidental setting fire, Arnold Joseph and his drinking, with his wife, the fire, the people trapped, the baby thrown from the upper room, Arnold Joseph catching it? The grandparents looking after the children?

6. Victor and Tommy as adults, the vastly different types, the up and down friendship, clashes, Victor and his exasperation, Tommy and his continued intensity? Issues of appearance, Tommy and his plaits, Victor urging him to change and be a man?

7. The flashbacks, the boys, play, always clashing, school, within the families, Victor and his mother and the baking of the excellent bread?

8. The flashbacks, to Arnold Joseph, his drinking, treatment of his wife, his anger, his pride in Victor and the basketball sequence? His explaining that to Susan and her telling Victor?

9. Arnold Joseph and his farewell to Victor, love, going to Arizona, disappearance? News of his death? The information, Victor and his quest, going to get his father’s remains, a mission?

10. Tommy, wanting to go, offering Victor the money, Victor reaction, their going, getting the lift, on the bus, Tommy’s incessant stories, the white men taking their seats and the clash but their backing down? The racism? Arrival, their walking to the trailer park, Victor throwing the water away, the clashes? Arrival, finding Susan?

11. Victor, wanting to go, Tommy wanting to stay, have something to eat? The comments on the bread? Susan and her work at the hospital? the discussions, going to the trailer, the flashback of Arnold Joseph dead, Susan finding him? Cremation, the container with the ashes? Susan talking, telling Victor stories about his father, the memories of the basketball throw – the fact that Victor actually missed? His changed attitude?

12. Susan, herself, her work, friendly, supportive of Arnold Joseph?

13. Getting the truck, the return, discussions with Tommy, especially Tommy’s memories of sitting by the river, their wanting to go there, stopping, scattering the ashes?

14. Victor dropping Tommy at home, Tommy and his grandmother and resuming his life? The effect of the trip?

15. Victor, his mother, the ashes?

16. A different road movie, experience, life-changing?