An intriguing film that defies classification and combines biography, dreams, documentary, and journalistic narration, Bowl of Bone was directed by Jan-Marie Martell in collaboration with Interior Salish (Nlaka'pamux) herbalist Annie Zetco York. The film was shot over a 15-year period in which the expatriate American woman's spiritual quest linked up with the life and death of a native visionary healer in the wilds of British Columbia. Driven by a spiritual hunger, Jan-Marie ascends into the haunting landscape of the Fraser Canyon and enters the ritualized lives of Annie, the syuwe (shaman), and Annie's cousin Arthur, a trickster of unqualified wit and finesse. On the threshold of possibility, Jan-Marie discovers that her own lack of faith disqualifies her from undertaking the ritual practice Annie offers to teach her. In a round of both forbidding and humorous encounters, Jan-Marie reaches a plateau of readiness, only to discover that Annie has been drawn into her own darkness. Through the trance-like ambience of the film, cultural stereotypes melt away as this powerful portrait of an extraordinary friendship proffers the universal possibility of hope, strength, and acceptance in the face of human frailty and cultural difference.
