Racism, residential schools powerfully depicted

For many years, racism has been a central topic in movies. Films such as Our Very Own, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and The Defiant Ones showed how the issue could be approached in a variety of ways. Two films in current release further illustrate the ability of film to take a different approach to the topic.

Indian Horse is most relevant to Canadian audiences in that it addresses the injustices imposed on Indigenous people as the Canadian government three quarters of a century ago attempted to destroy that culture.

Based on the novel by Richard Wagamese, the film follows the life of Saul Indian Horse. Beginning with the adult protagonist participating in group therapy, he is shown recounting the events which led to his becoming an alcoholic. As a six-year-old, he is torn away form his family and placed in a residential school. The cruelties and abuses inflicted on him and his fellow students there are graphically shown.

Canadians in general and Catholics in particular will doubtless be horrified at the role representatives of the Church played in this. However, Saul is befriended by a priest and through his guidance develops a love of hockey, a game at which he is naturally talented. So the movie shows the second stage in Saul’s life as he embarks on a hockey career; however, his hopes of becoming a professional player are destroyed as he finds that in the larger world, he is again subjected to racism. The burden of the trauma he has experienced, fully revealed only at the end, lead to alcoholism and despair.

Sadly, the story, though fictional, is one which has been played out in the lives of many Indigenous men and women. To that extent, the film conveys a powerful message. Unless we own our past, we will never correct it.

Indeed, one only wishes that the film had been given fuller treatment, particularly in the latter stages as one watches Saul attempt to deal with the demons of his past. Though it has many fine moments, particularly in the breathtakingly beautiful opening section in which Saul is shown in his natural environment, it is weakest where it needs to be most powerful: in showing the agonizing sadness of Saul’s ultimate suffering.

So, too, one would wish for some attempt to show how the problems inflicted by white people could and need to be addressed. For all that, Indian Horse is a disturbingly moving film, which should be essential viewing for all. In the same vein, an older film, We Were Children, tackles much of the same subject matter – check it out of your local library.

Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs is a much more ambitious attempt to satirize both racism and political power structures. Using the same stop-animation technique that Anderson has employed before, the film is a masterpiece of creativity, though it fails to achieve the greatness of Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Like that film, his latest creation seems to be aimed at adults in its humour. Adult, too, is the plot which tells of a dictator who, concerned about the growing number of dogs, which are seen as spreading disease, banishes them to an island that is essentially a rubbish dump. Only one little boy goes to the island to find his banished pet and is aided by the dogs on the island.  

Clearly the film is meant to be interpreted metaphorically, but it suffers from a story line that sags in the middle and is at times confusing. This confusion in part arises from Anderson’s attempt to employ the inspiration he has received from Japanese animated films, though at times he comes dangerously close to appearing to be attacking the Japanese culture.

While there is much to be admired about the film, it fails to live up to its potential and its promise. Although a brilliant piece of film animation, brilliant techniques cannot quite compensate for underlying weaknesses. Anderson’s criticism of political structures and societal attitudes is sadly all too relevant, but this film will not contribute greatly to the discussion.