The Only Good Indian is a tribute to the plight of the Indian during the struggles of the early 1900s. The story is artistically crafted by director Kevin Willmott who creates a constantly moving aesthetic paradigm indicating the kinds of injustice man must suffer unto man in a period of upheaval for the Native American. It is an extremely human picture that carries the weight of a whole people and raises them up to a level of justice. I loved this movie. There are so many little deft touches that come home to the human heart. A young Indian boy, Charlie (played beautifully by Winter Fox Frank) takes off from his indoctrination school, and gets hunted down by self taught detective, Sam (Wes Studi), who has hopes of becoming a Pinkerton detective. Charlie must go back to school where Sam wants to take him to collect his $10 for bringing him back on the motorcycle and sidecar that Sam has purchased from a catalogue. Along the way to bringing Charlie back to his school he sees a Pinkerton reward poster for $1000 for another runaway Indian girl, Sally, who has been accused of murder (though it turns out she killed an orderly at an insane asylum who had raped her). He finds her living in a church where she has become beloved by the pastor and his wife. Sam takes her with them. The white man's ways have nearly convinced Sam to play the game the way the new world of white man's order would have it. Along the road to bringing back his captives however, Sam gets reminded in savage ways of the white man's brutal ways. He is slowly remembering his native beginnings, as Charlie and Sally remind him in subtle ways how he once must have believed. Along the way, he turns down a Pinkerton job as he helps Charlie spring Sally from jail, runs from an ever following Sheriff, and gets re-composed toward his own true heritage. With fine cinematography and a very good cast, this picture had me teary eyed near the end, and gave me a glimpse of real sympathy into the native American heart.
Review of The Only Good Indian
