La Pequeña Guerrera

In both the storytelling and performances "Beans" is packed full of tenderness and heart wrenching moments. It captures the Mohawk experience of this conflict through the eyes of a young girl who is simultaneously trying to navigate young adulthood. Beautifully done and highly recommended.

It is a REALLY good movie.

The child/adolescence point of view is well worked, and, although Beans, her family and other characters did not exist, the Oka situation was real, and was one of the many ugly (to say the list) faces of Canada/Quebec.

But, please, keep in mind that the Oka trouble took place in 1990, and the Mohawks involved hadn't politics, money and other ideologies in mind.

They just wanted their sacred ground to be respected.

Exactly the opposite of some groups nowadays.

So, if have stomach to see some ugly scenes of violence and discrimination against peacefull people, watch it.

This is an interesting movie as it blends a few things together while being set during a real life event. Apparently in 1990 there was almost a war between 2 tribes and the province of quebec. Never heard of it until now, but it is real.

Beans which is the nickname for the main character (because her name is not pronounceable - running joke of the movie) navigates this period with her family as she tries to sort her social life and future school priorities. It is part coming of age movie, part canadian WACO documentary, part adventure movie, part drama.

It blends it all well. There is some usage of original footage of the actual confrontations and then they filmed some parts fresh to show the stand offs. It is impossible to merge the two seamlessly so the original archive footage stands out awkwardly, but does add a nice touch to the realism i would say. I know what they were trying to do and I appreciate the effort. Overall it works.

The acting is good from everybody, i just wish the parents were more involved. It seems they rushed through their scenes quite obviously and it makes the father mother rapport dry and unconvincing, especially in light of what is going on.

The movie does have a few darker scenes which i was surprised they went with, and i don't want to spoil what they are - but obviously they went for realism and it worked. It gives the movie a more serious tone for sure but perhaps could have gone deeper into it. It really needed another 30 minutes of runtime to polish all the scenes they put in. Scenes were great as i said they covered a lot of topics and issues, just feels really rushed on all corners.

7\10 the war you never heard of.

Set against the backdrop of the Oka crisis, Beans is a respectful Mohawk teenager applying to go to an exclusive private school. She tries to find her way with new friends as the external situation heats up around her.

It's a compelling coming of age story and a compelling true history story. It's the marrying of the two that the film does struggle from time to time. It feels like the movie is trying to hit all the points of the crisis. Each incident is specifically linked to the real world footage. I don't know if this is based on a real person. I do sense a writer connecting the dots of the story. Beans is a compelling character and she has quite a personal journey. This is a compelling film.

Seriously, this movie blew me away. Kiawentiio may be very young, but her talent feels beyond her years. Also some other familiar faces Paulina Alexis and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai from Reservation Dogs. Literally lightning in a bottle casting for this debut film by Tracey Deer. So much that I cant imagine her ever topping this and yet she most definitely will. I was fortunate enough to see it virtually during its festival circuit, but now that it's available for purchase, I've bought it and rewatched already. This is just the kind of movie that reminds you why you love movies! And being someone who has forgotten for a while, it's a breath of fresh air to remember.