User reviews

The eyes of cinema has always seen Indians only as the bad guys. The ones that shoot their arrows, wear feathers on their heads, and yell as they chase the heroes down. Finally, after 100 years of movies, we get a film that honestly portrays the Native American culture.  And man, it sure is refreshing.

The story opens on the Fourth of July, 1976 in a small Idaho Indian reservation. A small infant named Thomas Builds-the-Fire is thrown out of the window of a burning house and is caught by Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), a neighbor with a drinking problem, who is later kicked out of the house by his wife, leaving behind his son, Victor (Adam Beach). Arnold eventually settles down in Phoenix and his family never hears from him again.

20 years later, a phone call comes. It's from a woman in Phoenix, she says that Arnold is dead. Victor, who had developed a resentment towards his father over the years, decides that he should travel to Phoenix to pick up his ashes. Unfortunately, he has no money to get there... but Thomas does and offers to pay if he can come along with Victor. This is a tough decision for Victor since he never really liked Thomas, but he finally agrees and the two set off on their journey.

It's during their journey that we learn about the characters, Victor and Thomas' conversations reveal their attitudes towards Americans their views of Native Americans. In one scene, Victor accuses Thomas of learning everything about being an Indian from watching Dances With Wolves. In another funny sequence, the two begin talking about cowboys and end up singing a tune about John Wayne's teeth! Victor's resentment for his father is also revealed to us through flashbacks depicting the early years and the memories (some good, some bad) that the two shared.

They do eventually arrive in Phoenix and find the woman that called with the news of Arnold's death. Victor talks with her during the night and finds out how much his dad cared for him and how he never wanted to leave the reservation in the first place. The events that follow drastically alter Victor's perceptions of his father forever.

Smoke Signals is a great film and one that can teach you a lot about a culture so often misrepresented on the screen. There is a feeling of ease and casualness in the conversations between Victor and Thomas... slowly they reveal more and more of themselves to us, in a way that is so nonchalant that we understand their feelings it without even noticing it. Smoke Signals is well worth your time and offers a refreshing alternative to the big budget, special effects driven crap this summer.

"Smoke Signals" was touted at Sundance as the first completely Native American written, produced, directed etc. film or some such.

I thought it was going to be a plot less road movie, but it turned out instead to be about family and had a very specific story and plot line that avoided clichés. In that way it reminded me of the New Zealand "Once Were Warriors" - with about 1% of that violence about aborigine families struggling to have dignity within the confines of a white-restricted world. Like that movie you virtually don't see whites at all.

I very much liked how the flash backs were handled (in the context of "the past is never dead, it's never even past" type evocation). The title is used for several layers of meanings about smoke and fire.

Dar Williams's road song was used in an ironic road way, but I think it was added on afterwards. The passenger is bopping along to the song on the radio saying over and over that it's her favorite song, which would be odd for an obscure song. But the joke is also that the car can only go in reverse.

John Trudell (he's the DJ at KREZ) and Elaine Miles ("Marilyn" from "Northern Exposure") have teeny parts. The music is appealing --though none by Trudell and very little traditional. The closing credits have a Walala (the trio with Rita Coolidge and sister) tune that I thought it would be cool if it got nominated for an Oscar, if it's not previously recorded, as I thought it would be something different at the Academy Awards. The other music mostly also comes ostensibly from KREZ and is by Native Americans but in the singer-songwriter mode (no Bill Miller used). Other than Ulali (I thought was Walela, but I was corrected) and Dar when I tried to read the credits as they quickly went by I didn't recognize any of the names.

I almost immediately caught "Powwow Highway" on cable and was surprised to see how much it must have influenced "Smoke Signals" as a Native American road movie.

(originally written 7/2/1998)

Despite Leonard Maltin's comment that Smoke Signals is "basically unexciting film-making," I found this movie deeply spiritual without being heavy-handed. The aspect of the film that captured my interest and has stayed with me is the story-telling of Thomas. The stories mingle simple, real-life recollections with fantasy, and the voice of Thomas subtly gives the movie a transcendent quality. Thomas is a modern-day medicine man, grounded in reality yet open to possibilities. He marvels at the beauty of the creation that surrounds him and dreams of what new wonders the future might bring. He is hope.

I intend to view this film many more times. It deals with tragedy without being tragic. It recognizes the sometimes brutal facts of reality without allowing brutality to define. It reveals sadness but not as an end in and of itself. It asks questions but leaves the answers to the viewer. And it affirms that there are answers and hope.

Smoke Signals is a somewhat misunderstood film. The setting on an Indian reservation leads viewers to believe that Smoke Signals is about Indian issues or Indian philosophy. To be sure, the presence of Indian values and culture make this movie decidedly more enjoyable, but the movie is more transcendent, more universal than a purely Indian film. And, while this was heralded as the first movie to be written, directed and co-produced by Native Americans, there is something here for everyone, regardless of ethnicity.

More than anything else, this movie appealed to me as a writer. Taken from Sherman Alexie's brilliant collection "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven". it is beautifully written and expertly crafted from beginning to end. The first scene, narrated lyrically by Evan Adams as Thomas Builds-the-fire, sets the tone for a story handed down, as with Native American culture, in true oral tradition.

The French title, Le secret des cendres (The secret of the ashes) more accurately describes the book and the movie, both of which must be experienced to fully appreciate Alexie's genius. With multiple allusions to fire and ash, each having different meanings, as well as a well integrated use of Native American lore, Smoke Signals requires more than a little thought for the average American viewer.

The story revolves around two young Coeur d' Alene Indian men dealing with loss and the end of childhood innocence. The two men cope with loss in very different ways; Thomas though mysticism and legend, Victor through stoicism and denial. When Victor Joseph, brilliantly played by Adam Beach, learns that his estranged father has died, he and Thomas embark on a journey to claim the ashes, another allusion of the french title, and on the way get in touch with their identities as adults apart from their parents.

Evan Adams is stupendous as Thomas Builds-the-fire. His storytelling scenes are pure magic. By imbuing simple memories with mystical reverence, he elevates them, and thus both himself and his listeners, to a new spiritual level. His exaltation of the ordinary is the core of this delightful work of genius. It culminates with a reading, slightly modified, of Dick Lourie's poem "Forgiving Our Fathers". Lourie, who is a self-described unreconstructed beatnik poet, brings a fragile and elegant beauty to the film's emotional climax. The final scenes, driven by Adams' narration and haunting Native American chant and music, are nothing short of miraculous.

Adam Beach, strapping and stalwart as Victor Joseph, managed to parlay his appearance in Smoke Signals into a respectable film career. Evan Adams, diminutive and shy as Thomas Builds-the-fire, was not so lucky despite his masterful performance. Perhaps Admas' aspirations ran along different lines, as these days, even after starring in what is basically a sequel (The Business of Fancydancing, also by Alexie) Adams can now be called Dr. Adams, as he has become a respected and accomplished physician in British Columbia.

The supporting cast was equally magnificent, and each lends credibility and energy to the movie. An interesting sidenote is that Irene Bedard, who appears as Suzy Song, was the physical model for Pocahontas in the Disney animated feature.

I have seen this movie many times, and will undoubtedly watch it many more. Each time I am left in silent awe as I reflect on my own life, family, and philosophies.

On a native reservation, Arnold rescues baby Thomas from a fiery infernal. Thomas grows up admiring Arnold and telling tales about him. On the other hand, Arnold's actual son Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) grew up conflicted about his drunken, abusive father. Arnold always claims to be able to disappear and one day, he does just that. He abandons his family. Years later, the family gets a phone call that Arnold has died and someone needs to retrieve his body. Thomas is eager to join Victor on his journey.

As a mostly native production, this is one of the better ones. The film looks good. It is a good indie. It also has capable native actor Adam Beach before his big breaks. These are two interesting characters. It's an interesting relationship although I wish they get along better. It's an interesting little movie.

"Smoke Signals" is one of the most unique movies I have ever seen. From the combinations of stories, characters, and filmmaking. The acting in this movie was witty, funny, serious and heartbreaking all at the same time. Even though this is a movie about Native American culture, it is a movie that talks to everyone no matter what there ethnic background may be. I am of Italian heritage but this movie still got to me. It tackles issues of family, culture, and tradition as well as friendship. The acting is this movie is superb and the filmmaker's shots and different ways of filming scenes and how each one flowed into another was amazing. In school we had to read some stories by Sherman Alexie and then we watched the movie. If it weren't for my English teacher I may have missed watching one of the most brilliant independent films ever made.

This film did not get the attention it deserved. When I first heard about a film made by Native Americans, I was afraid it would be an exercise in political correctness. But the ethnicity of the characters took a back seat to the universal themes of friendship and learning to come to terms with one's past. This is one of the greatest "buddy movies" ever made. A couple of years after I saw it I drove through the American Southwest for the first time, and images of the film kept coming into my head. This is a film which really stays with you.

The material here has real potential, but the execution leaves something to be desired. It is easy to point out some amateurish flaws in the production -- the obvious wigs, some spotty acting -- but the problems run deeper than these superficial imperfections.

At times the movie is compelling, and it points to some profound issues. But too often, it pulls its punches, opting for a feel-good approach reminiscent of made-for TV movies. It covers the brutality, pain, and loss in its subject matter with a gauze of sentimentality and empty humanism. The inevitable redemption that resolves the troubled, troubling story feels too easy, merely the result of the genre's formula. It doesn't feel true to life.

Notably, the director chooses to try to pull the viewer's heart strings at moments when the script seems instead to be calling attention to hard realities. Thomas's boring tales are treated as though they are genuinely entertaining, when in fact they seem to reflect the oppressive tedium of reservation life, the need to escape its futility, and to shroud the past in fantasy.

Similarly, the characters' fondness for flatbread is portrayed as touching, when it seems more a comment on their grinding poverty -- baked bread is so cheap that to forgo it for homemade bespeaks a perilous level of want. On the other hand, the characters' sense of dispossession and victimhood is overplayed. The script seems to point to a somewhat more problematic sense of Indian identity, matching the overwhelming sense of having been wronged with a concomitant guilty doubt -- something like, "Did my ancestors blow it like some of my other relatives? Why weren't they strong enough to fight the white man off? Why couldn't they provide us a better life than this?" This would seem to tie in with the central theme of the movie, the difficulty of grappling with the absurd, of grappling with the inexplicable, senseless past; the way in which history weighs like a nightmare on the minds of the living; the way history is a nightmare from which we're trying to wake up.

But the movie's impulsive softness pushes this hard element to the periphery. Of course it must be possible to forgive one's father for years of abuse and neglect, and it must be possible to make peace with a culture and people that once tried to eliminate yours, and that still treats you with indifference and casual cruelty. But surely it needs more than flashback accompanied by adult-contemporary guitar for this to happen.

The unfortunate thing about this is that there is an untold story here that screams to be told, that the world needs to know. It deserves a more mature telling than this.

My young grandniece and nephew were visiting with me during the Christmas holidays several years ago and we rented this movie from the local library. Without a doubt, it was excellent. I wanted them to see a movie with various role models, and as I had never seen this movie, I thought it would be a treat for all of us. I especially liked Thomas and his stories. Stories are an important part of growing up in all cultures. We can learn about customs of various groups through them, as well as learn a lot about ourselves, as human beings. I felt that the problems that the young man was encountering with his father are relevant to all people, young and old, and if they are not resolved, unfortunately, those problems hinder personal growth. This film was not only entertaining, but thought-provoking as well. Well done!

"Smoke Signals" is about a young man's quest and the help he gets from people along the way. It's about how the actions of an individual can create ripples that push others away. It's about the magic in relationships and love. It's about finding wisdom in unlikely places, and people. It's funny and moving and one of the best films you'll ever see.

Smoke Signals (the efforts of Sherman Alexie, Chris Eyre and the cast of fabulous actors) shows in rich, humorous detail what life is like for young Indians today. It is an insider's view of reservation basketball games and the rituals of frybread. Its characters don't bring themselves (and the story) down with self pity. Instead they look to the lighter side of history with references to Columbus and Gen. Custer. The story is simple. Two young men, Victor and Thomas, embark on a trip to Phoenix to retrieve the ashes of Victor's father. Victor is angry at his father for leaving his family and angry with himself for the grudge that he carries. Through the help of Thomas and his father's final friend Suzy, Victor is able to find resolution and peace. The acting, particularly Gary Farmer as Arnold Joseph (Victor's father) and Evan Adams (Thomas Builds-the-Fire) are outstanding. In fact, I had to see it a second time to catch all the plot because Evan Adams completely stole the show for me!

Overly earnest, overly obvious, but beautifully performed tale that does offer the viewer a chance to peek into a world that is not often seen on the big screen. Early scenes on the reservation have a nice rhythm, but the story deteriorates once our protagonists hit the road; we've seen this all before. Terrific performances by Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal and especially Evan Adams as "Thomas-builds-the-fire."

I have read some of Sherman Alexie's work, although admittedly not "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." I don't want to ruin a movie that I enjoyed so thoroughly by loving the book more. In any case, I think that this film is largely misunderstood. Non-Indian people tend to look at this film as a "coming of age" story about finding Victor finding not only his father, but himself as well. Yes, that's there, but there is so much more. For example: the very real and very sad quality of life on the rez. The ones who are fortunate enough to have a car don't care if it drives in reverse only. The kids watch their parents drinking, and often grow up to drink with them. Alcoholism is a very real disease that affects everyone associated with an alcoholic...and it runs rampant throughout many reservations. Imagine knowing that once you had so much, and now are only allotted a certain patch of a certain number of acres; imagine knowing that more than half of your history was oral tradition and people made you stop speaking your native language. Imagine the elders watching the children grow up to try to be white and fail, and imagine them watching their history slip away with every word or nuance forgotten. Imagine the desperation of a people as a whole and individually to have so much and really have nothing at all. That, I believe, is the underlying theme in Smoke Signals. The title alone is a cryptic message from Alexie: smoke signals were used to communicate across open plains, plains now destroyed and whithered as though a fire raged across them, which it did in the form of the white man. Victor's father died in a fire, perhaps sending his spirit up in the form of a smoke signal to his gods. And Thomas' narration at the beginning is about children born of fire and ash. Watch this movie again and again, and see how so many suffer...

"Smoke Signals" is just another low budget indie comedy/drama with one huge difference. It is about contemporary Native Americans by contemporary Native Americans. Its thin story is worthy but only nominally interesting. However, the telling of that story and the pervasive sense of Native Americaness about it conjures a unique charm which speaks volumes about the American Indian culture to those with their ear to the ground and it does so with a grand sense of humor. A fresh and fearless film worth a look especially for those interested in Native American people, ain't it. (B-)

I flew up to Seattle on the '98 July 4th weekend to see the matinee premier on the Friday. Sherman Alexie is a, of course, a well known poetry and prose writer in the Northwest, but this was his first step into cinema with a screenplay based on his short story, 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven.'

The premiere was at an old, Egyptian-themed cinema in Seattle and the house was half full for the 4:30 matinee. The audience was predominately Native American.

On exit, Sherman stood on the sidewalk in the late afternoon Seattle light and waited nervously like a child, to see the reaction to the film (which had ended with unanimous applauds from the half house audience). A film crew was there for exit polling.

A diminutive Native American female elder slowly approached Sherman. She moved forward and extended her arms around him into a hug and spoke softly, "Thank you."

Sherman was mush.

Don't miss this film. He's not 'the Spike Lee of Native American film making' as the Time Magazine of that week put it. He's an independent, regional film maker, whose background is the 'Rez.'

'Smoke Signals' is a film that I watched at university as being a representation of the portrayal of Native Americans in films today. The film is about a group of Native Americans living on a reservation, and it portrays their society and their style of living, which conflicts with the way that they were portrayed in films in previous years. The film even pokes some fun at these portrayals. The film is about a couple of friends setting off on a bus where they come in to contact with non-Native Americans. They learn a little but about non-Native American culture from this trip from meeting these people. The performances are good, and the film has charm and it contains its comedy. It's a light film for those who want some light entertainment.

I liked this film because it gave a good depiction of modern day Native life as it would have been in real life. Like anyone else, when they travel on the road they love to meet other Natives doing the same and pretty soon they all become close. I don't think this film depicts Natives the way that the mainstream Hollywood films do.

However.......... anyways............. that's why I gave this one a 6 out of 10.

I was fascinated by the fact that this film was written, directed and acted by Native Americans. As a mixed blood, this was a major draw.

What I found in this film was culture, religion and what it means to be human regardless of our racial heritage.

Watching this movie as a seminary student I was drawn to the concepts of sin, alienation and reconciliation as seen through Native American eyes. What predominately spoke to me was how Thomas seemed to incorporate Christianity into his storytelling. I'm happy that Eyre and Alexie were not afraid to portray a character in this film as Christian. With all the current information, it seems there are no Christian Native Americans.

Perhaps the format of this film is overdone, the buddy road-trip, but this film is a beginning toward understanding between two cultures that share a common land.

A well made movie that shows how a person can truly find himself. It gives hope to people who feel like there is nothing worth living for. Victor is not a victor in the movie, but is a victim. He is the product of the events around him rather than making the events around him a product of his actions. Even though his life is not necessarily a happy one, he finds what true happiness is all about. The movie is not just about the Native American culture and how it is different from the stereotypical "Dances With Wolves" Indians. It is about how, with the help of a true friend, a young adult goes from being a boy to becoming a man.

Good intentions but god awful execution and acting. These actors are actually so painfully bad I contemplated turning it off countless times throughout but had to continue watching for a class(the only reason I would finish this movie). The plot has several holes in it, the cinematography might as well have been done by a monkey, the pacing is so amateur it hurts. Wouldn't wish a viewing of this movie on my worst enemy.