Smoke Signals

POWWOW HIGHWAY: a groundbreaking Indigenous road trip

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Photo caption: A Martinez and Gary Farmer in POWWOW HIGHWAY.

Powwow Highway is a groundbreaking indie from 1988. It’s very hard to find, but it’s airing November 4 on Turner Classic Movies. Powwow Highway is a droll, offbeat road trip comedy, significant for being one of the first movies with a contemporary Indigenous lens.

Buddy (A Martinez) is an activist on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, leading opposition to a strip-mining project. To get him out of their way, the big money interests conspire to have his sister Bonnie (Joanelle Romero) framed and arrested in New Mexico. Buddy is desperate to go to her relief, but has no transportation. His childhood acquaintance Philbert (Gary Farmer), having dreamed of a mystical pony, has purchased a decrepit 1964 Buick that he unironically names Protector. Although it is dubious whether Protector can get them off the reservation, let alone all the way to Santa Fe, they begin their quest, and adventures and misadventures follow.

Gary Farmer in POWWOW HIGHWAY.

Much of the humor stems from the Odd Couple on the road trip. Buddy is political and Philbert is spiritual. Buddy is in a hurry, and Philbert doesn’t recognize the concept of hurrying. Gary Farmer has become one of my favorite character actors, and his performance here is indelible.

The renowned Indigenous actors Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and 2020 honorary Academy Award) and Graham Greene (The Green Mile, Wind River and Oscar-nominated for Dances with Wolves) also appear in supporting roles.

Powwow Highway also takes us inside daily life on the impoverished reservation with striking verisimilitude. Powwow Highway was produced by George Harrison (yes, THAT George Harrison), directed by South African Jonathan Wacks from David Seals’ 1979 novel.

Powwow Highway won the Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker’s Trophy, was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, and has been selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress Film Registry.

Powwow Highway can be streamed on the Criterion Channel, but is otherwise unavailable. Make sure you DVR this week’s TCM broadcast.

If you like Powwow Highway, you’ll also appreciate another early indie with an Indigenous lens, Smoke Signals from 1998. It’s another wry road trip comedy, starring Adam Beach, Evan Adams and Irene Bedard, with another turn from Gary Farmer. Smoke Signals is available to stream from Amazon, Apple, YouTube and Fandango.

Gary Farmer in POWWOW HIGHWAY.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jennifer Jason Leigh and Woody Harrelson in LBJ

In theaters now:

  • I liked LBJ, an effective Cliff Notes history lesson, with another fine performance by Woody Harrelson.
  • Murder on the Orient Express is a moderately entertaining lark.

The highly acclaimed Novitiate, Lady Bird, Last Flag Flying, Darkest Hour, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and The Square have reached the Bay Area, but only in a few theaters. Of these, I’ve only seen The Square, an ambitious satire that I liked, but which is not for everyone; I’ll be posting about it soon. Stay tuned.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the smart and bitingly funny dramedy Smoke Signals, a film about Native Americans written and directed by Native Americans. The film won the Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Smoke Signals is available on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

On November 20, Turner Classic Movies will broadcast the top heist film ever, the pioneering French classic Rififi: After the team is assembled and the job is plotted, the actual crime unfolds in real-time – over thirty minutes of nerve-wracking silence.

RIFIFI

DVD/Stream of the Week: SMOKE SIGNALS – Native American roadtrip to laughs and a long-buried secret

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Evan Adams and Adam Beach in SMOKE SIGNALS

The smart and bitingly funny dramedy Smoke Signals is a film about Native Americans written and directed by Native Americans.  Evans Adams plays Thomas Builds-the-Fire, an Indian nerd, a character type almost certainly unique in cinema.  Adam Beach plays his oft-surly friend Victor.  The two had contrasting relationships with Victor’s father, who has recently died.  Thomas and Victor embark on a road trip to unearth a family secret.

Smoke Signals was written with an acerbic wit and is often downright uproarious. The laugh lines are as funny as in any screwball comedy: Sometimes it’s a good day to die, and sometimes it’s a good day to have breakfast. One of the high points is a rendition of the original song John Wayne’s Teeth.

As Thomas and Victor banter, we get to glimpse inside both Indian Country and mainstream culture from the Indian point of view. Smoke Signals unflinchingly takes on alcoholism and other issues within the Native American community, as well as resentment of how Native Americans are treated by the dominant American culture.

Adam Beach and Evan Adams in SMOKE SIGNALS

Smoke Signals’s screenplay was written by Sherman Alexie, based on his own novel. Alexie set the core of the story on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation on which he grew up. It was directed in 1997 by then 28-year-old Chris Eyre. Eyre, a Cheyenne-Arapaho, has since directed the Native American-themed Skins and Edge of America, along with episode of Friday Night Lights and American Experience.

Adams is hysterically funny as Thomas, and Beach is a capable straight man. Smoke Signals also features the fine Native Canadian actor and actress Gary Farmer and Tantoo Cardinal and the Native American actress Irene Bedard. Michele St. John and Elaine Miles are very funny as Victor and Thomas’ reservation friends Velma and Lucy.

The film won the Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Smoke Signals is available on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.