One Dead Indian (2006)

Undescribable Perfection

Better Late Then Never

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This movie tells it like it was; a justifiably harsh portrayal of police brutality against a much-maligned group of people who were just trying to make a point. It was also a fairly accurate picture of what Native people really are, and that's PEOPLE! They're regular people with problems, jobs, aspirations, hopes and dreams. They are not all drunks and they are not all wise and peaceful medicine men. They think and feel with their hearts, like many of us do.Gordon Tootoosis has a good role, sort of minor, and I feel it was a good thing, letting others into the spotlight. Everyone expects him to be a major player. Not this time.Dakota House plays a good 'angry young man', not quite a Warrior, but had the potential to be one, if he'd lived.I note with interest that two of the movie's key roles have been omitted from the cast at this site. Stephen McHattie plays the senior officer for the OPP, and the actor who plays Kenneth Deane is also not mentioned. Anyone know who he is and why he is not listed here? -Jack-

It was hard to watch this, remembering the events, the places and the people so well. I wish that more had been shown about the events leading up to that terrible night, but the complicity of government officials was at least pointed out. I found the whole thing too low key, but noted that several actors indeed got the strength and humour of the people. Dakota House did a pretty decent job of Dudley, while Gary Farmer was very good as Judas, and Jennifer Podemski was brilliant at recreating Gina's reactions to the shooting of her son on the bus. For anyone who thinks the bus was sensationalized, I saw it a few days after the events, and I was amazed those two kids didn't die. Like I said, it was too low key - this was a night of horror that continues to haunt many people, but we only really felt it in brief seconds when Dudley was arriving at the hospital and Gina and Judas were trying to get help for their son. At least you saw that these were real people, good people, who had a real injustice to fight and that the way things played out was a blot on the name of Ontario institutions and all Canadians.

This was a solid effort that pulled no punches, sort of a docu-drama about one of the darker pages of Ontario history, the shooting of an unarmed Indian protester by the Ontario Provincial Police during the native occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park on Lake Huron. It seems accurate (from my recollection of the events) and although it perhaps wisely does not attempt to portray Premier Michael Harris, the "tough guy" behind the shooting, it does use an actual clip of him in the Ontario Legislature and it reconstructs an actual phone call which revealed the political pressure that was put on the OPP. It's a gutsy and well done film but I doubt that CTV will be getting any commendations from the OPP. Although their senior people come off reasonably well, those "on the ground" that night come off looking a little worse than storm troopers. This is the sort of thing CBC does well now and then. It's encouraging that CTV now also occasionally runs good Canadian stuff like this instead of its usual diet of US trash. For an Ontario audience the story is quite clear. Elsewhere in Canada and certainly outside the country, it may need a little more backgrounding.

Let's look at this TV movie from an analysis of it's director and principal performers.Director Tim Southam - At times, he tries to be Hitchcock and Tarentino but mostly he tries to develop of his own Canadian style. His Hitchcockian touches include a firecracker scene teasing the audience into envisioning the inevitable gunshots. His Tarentinian touches include an opening scene whose blurred and frantic camera work is reminiscent of "Reservoir Dogs"( or "21 Grams") where Dudley's sister is racing to the hospital with her brother's bleeding body in the back and serves as the link between present scenes and flashbacks. His own personal touches include the incorporation of Native American culture in his film such as sweet grass smudging and pow-wow music. One poignant scene has the Gary Farmer character being smudged with sweet grass as a legal oath of honesty. This is neatly contrasted with Sgt. Deane, the white O.P.P., who is later sworn in with the Bible. Gary Farmer(SMOKE SIGNALS) His character is the wise elder who reminds the youth on a scene by a lake shore, that the Ipperwash conflict is not a culmination of past struggles (60 years by the movie's account) but it is more a promise for future claims. He, Dudley George and the other Chippewa protesters are doing all this for their future.Dakota House("North of Sixty")- He is perfectly cast as Dudley George, the self proclaimed "natural born a**hole", who moons the cops while flipping them profanities and the bird. Dudley's legacy is not due to any heroic or honourable deed. The legacy is in the ensuing inquiry where the justice department, in a move I pray will be copied, shows that there are not two separate laws, one for the Indians and one for the Government and Police Force, which was the concern of Dudley's brother Sam.Eric Schweig(THE MISSING) - Eric Schweig plays Sam George, Dudley's brother. His performance here is strong enough. However, anyone who saw the similarly themed TV movie "Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story" will experience deja vu as Schweig plays virtually the same character: the torment brother of the slain Indian protagonist who has visions of his brother's spirit throughout.Gordon Tootoosis(LONE STAR) - Fans of Gordon Tootoosis will be disappointed that Gary Farmer got the wise elder role and Tootoosis' character will be best remembered as the dirty old man who flirts awkwardly with the female cop. He does have one serious scene where he talks to Dudley on the bus on the night of the shooting. We find in this scene that Dudley was on the verge of overcoming his troublesome past at the time of the shooting, but this scene is unmemorable and Tootoosis's talents are wasted.Gabrielle Miller("Corner Gas") - She plays an aide to Ontario premier Harris. Her story seems to be a totally useless subtext. At the end of the film, before the credits, there is a "JFK" conspiracy moment that partly justifies this subtext but mostly this whole subtext belongs in a documentary. (See DEATH AT IPPERWASH)Overall, "One Dead Indian" is an adept portrait of a story that promises to be an important jigsaw piece in the puzzle of First Nations justice.