Beans

Based on a true events from the life of director/co-writer Tracey Deer: in the summer of 1990, the town of Oka, Quebec has allowed an expansion of a golf course to be built on sacred burial grounds of the First Nations Mohawk people. Tekehentakhwa aka Beans (played by Kiawentiio Tarbell) is a pre-teen Mohawk whose coming-of-age is greatly tainted by the battle of her people against nearby locals and the police.

This film is a very welcome account of one of the worst periods in recent Canadian history. The fact that it is personal makes it even more welcome.

Deer shows great skill especially in filming some very grueling battle/conflict scenes. The personal stories, though, have a somewhat mixed result. Scenes of Beans' emulation of a pair of older neighbourhood siblings (a rough girl and her attractive brother, also rough) are sometimes unconvincing and uncomfortable. But the scenes of her family (parents and a younger sister) are always deeply moving. They cover life's usual growing pains that are exacerbated by the conflict and the exposure of a wicked prejudice. And they are highlighted by the solid performance of Rainbow Dickerson who plays Beans' mother, Lily. Lily is the central force of the family and in her community especially in a scene when she gathers other women in a bold, courageous act that prevents a disaster. Dickerson has all that it takes in her portrayal of this major character and life-force.

The use of historical news footage of the conflict is very powerful. So is the mention of the fact that some locals were in economic hardship as a result of the blockades while not using this an excuse for terrible actions. This is also a very timely film considering recent discoveries of past horrors involving Canadian residential schools and the cruel treatment of the late Joyce Echaquan at a Quebec hospital.

Relevant and powerful. - dbamateurcritic.

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.

I stopped watching about 2/3 through. The mom, in an overwrought scene, had shortly before driven through the gauntlet of stone-throwing, white yahoos while the police (SQ?) merely watched. But what made me throw in the towel was the way the filmmaker chose to develop the "friendship" between Beans and her rougher peers. That didn't work for me at all. I'm assuming those youthful relationships and the incipient awakening of the heroine from a protected innocence was meant as a metaphor for First Nations society, but I don't know.

The lack of nuance in the storytelling and a lack of historical footage that captured the racism encountered in the course of daily life off-reserve, during the blockade prevented me from feeling what I had hoped for.

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.

As an American aware of our troubled past with Native American history and the founding of our nation, I was not as familiar with Canada's own racist background.

Surrounding the real life standoff between the government and the native population of Quebec around the construction of a golf course on Indian burial ground is the backdrop of a parellel story of a young girl growing up in the midst of chaos.

Kiawentiio is the actress in the lead role and she is magnificent in the part. Her hard driving mother only wants the best for her, including her attendance at a mostly white school.

She meets a neighbor who attempts to toughen her up and they form an unlikely friendship.

I recommend this film as a good educational tool and for the lead performance.