I loved the novel and wanted so much to love the movie, too. And it does have some lovable parts. But all-in-all, I am sorry to say, the movie is let down by (1) the incredibly syrupy portrait (diabetics beware) of the Cherokee; (2) the ponderous tones of the narrator (Little Tree as an adult looking back, much like John Boy on "The Waltons"); and (3) the much-too-broad portrayals of the white characters (James Cromwell aside), ranging from despicable to oblivious. Watch out in particular for some hardcore stereotypes when the Preacher gets wound up in the little church, when the Politician stops by and makes a speech about the "Jews and the Catholics," and when Little Tree encounters a trio of white "lawmen" in the woods.
Left totally unexplained is why -- if, as the story implies, the deck is perpetually stacked for the white, against the Cherokee -- a 1/4-Cherokee child would be taken from his white relatives (against their wishes), and given to the Cherokee side of the family. A quite curious omission for a story in which the Cherokee/white distinction is a central -- in some ways, THE central -- theme. Passed over in similar silence is why -- if the white-man's church is such a festering sore of hypocrisy and hysteria (and it is definitely portrayed that way, with all the subtlety of the Three Stooges) -- Little Tree's grandparents (and Willow John) choose to attend it, much less why they would want the young boy himself exposed to it at such a formative age (the ninth year of his life).
It is quite improbable, bordering on incredible, that a 1/4 Cherokee child, born in rural east-Tennessee of 1927, would not have been given a name at least partly "American" (either first, middle, or last). Yet that is the necessary implication of the scene in which the Indian School headmaster peremptorily strips Little Tree of his "Indian name" and pronounces his new, "American name" to be Joshua. Otherwise, he could have reclaimed the "American name" he had prior to, or in addition to, Little Tree. At any rate, the audience is left to sort this out on its own.
I know what I have said up til now is quite harsh, so let me add that the performances by James Cromwell, Graham Greene, and Tantoo Cardinal are all outstanding. The scenes of the mountain-type men gathered in Jenkins' Store in "the settlement" are nicely played, as are the domestic scenes in and around the grandparents' cabin in the hills. The music and scenery are beautiful, and finally the the child-actor Joseph Ashton is splendid in the title role. He was apparently 10 years old at time of filming, and his performance is thoroughly credible from start to finish.
Left totally unexplained is why -- if, as the story implies, the deck is perpetually stacked for the white, against the Cherokee -- a 1/4-Cherokee child would be taken from his white relatives (against their wishes), and given to the Cherokee side of the family. A quite curious omission for a story in which the Cherokee/white distinction is a central -- in some ways, THE central -- theme. Passed over in similar silence is why -- if the white-man's church is such a festering sore of hypocrisy and hysteria (and it is definitely portrayed that way, with all the subtlety of the Three Stooges) -- Little Tree's grandparents (and Willow John) choose to attend it, much less why they would want the young boy himself exposed to it at such a formative age (the ninth year of his life).
It is quite improbable, bordering on incredible, that a 1/4 Cherokee child, born in rural east-Tennessee of 1927, would not have been given a name at least partly "American" (either first, middle, or last). Yet that is the necessary implication of the scene in which the Indian School headmaster peremptorily strips Little Tree of his "Indian name" and pronounces his new, "American name" to be Joshua. Otherwise, he could have reclaimed the "American name" he had prior to, or in addition to, Little Tree. At any rate, the audience is left to sort this out on its own.
I know what I have said up til now is quite harsh, so let me add that the performances by James Cromwell, Graham Greene, and Tantoo Cardinal are all outstanding. The scenes of the mountain-type men gathered in Jenkins' Store in "the settlement" are nicely played, as are the domestic scenes in and around the grandparents' cabin in the hills. The music and scenery are beautiful, and finally the the child-actor Joseph Ashton is splendid in the title role. He was apparently 10 years old at time of filming, and his performance is thoroughly credible from start to finish.