Arnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.Arnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.Arnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
- Awards
- 15 wins & 8 nominations total
- Lester Fallsapart
- (as Leonard George)
Featured reviews
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.'
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.
Did you know
- TriviaThe first movie to be written, directed, and co-produced by Native Americans.
- GoofsThere is no way that one bus driver could have driven the same bus continuously from Idaho to Arizona. Federal law would prohibit it.
- Quotes
Thomas Builds-the-Fire: How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever, when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage, or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all? Do we forgive our fathers for marrying, or not marrying, our mothers? Or divorcing, or not divorcing, our mothers? And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? Shall we forgive them for pushing, or leaning? For shutting doors or speaking through walls? For never speaking, or never being silent? Do we forgive our fathers in our age, or in theirs? Or in their deaths, saying it to them or not saying it. If we forgive our fathers, what is left?
- Crazy creditsAny similarity to actual persons, living, dead, or indigenous, is purely coincidental.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,745,362
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $43,574
- Jun 28, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $6,745,362
- Runtime
- 1h 29m(89 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1