The first realization I came to when watching Chris Eyre’s 1998 film Smoke Signals, playing this weekend at PSU’s 5th Avenue Cinema, was that I don’t know the first thing about what life is like for modern Native Americans. I assume that many of us without family or other connections to the culture have no idea.
The first realization I came to when watching Chris Eyre’s 1998 film Smoke Signals, playing this weekend at PSU’s 5th Avenue Cinema, was that I don’t know the first thing about what life is like for modern Native Americans. I assume that many of us without family or other connections to the culture have no idea.
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Native American Actors Evan Adams (left) and Adam Beach (right) star in the 1998 Miramax film Smoke Signals, which is playing on campus this weekend.
Eyre’s film, the story of two young men of the Coeur d’Alene tribe who journey to Arizona after one of them loses his father, is not meant to educate viewers on reservation life. But it’s still a slice of life, and the strength of the story and charm of the characters make you want to know even more about their culture.
While Smoke Signals isn’t specifically about Native American issues, there are plenty of lighthearted and clever lines referencing their cultural and geographical isolation. The local disc jockey announces over the radio that it’s “8 a.m. Indian Time,” and that “it’s a good day to be indigenous.”
Smoke Signals begins with a house fire that inextricably links the two main protagonists, Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) and Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams). Thomas is saved from the fire in which both his parents die because Victor’s dad, Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), catches him when he is tossed out of a window.
Soon we cut to the two of them as young men. Victor is a brooding, handsome basketball player and Thomas is a bespectacled, idealistic nerd. The differences between the two of them go much further than the superficial and become the backbone of the film.
Thomas, who has never had parents, idealizes Arnold Joseph, who has since left the reservation and his family and moved to Arizona. Victor, who put up with years of abusive and drunken behavior from his dad, knows he is far from a hero.
When Arnold Joseph dies, Victor heads to Phoenix to settle his affairs, and Thomas tags along to help him pay for the journey. They hitchhike and then take the bus while Thomas continues to irritate Victor with his romantic view of life and penchant for telling elaborate stories in the Native American tradition.
When they reach Phoenix, they meet Arnold Joseph’s friend Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), who has her own perspective on the life of Victor’s father. Arnold Joseph is seen frequently in flashbacks from all three characters, which leads to stories within stories—not all of them entirely true.
The theme of storytelling is quite powerful in Smoke Signals. The film is a wonderful exploration of how someone, especially a father, is remembered after they die. It’s easy to compartmentalize a person’s life and characterize them in a certain way, but if you’ve ever lost somebody, you know that one of the things you come to realize is how different everyone’s experience of a single person can be.
Arnold Joseph was one person to Thomas, another person to Victor and yet another person to Suzy—and none of them were right or wrong about him. Smoke Signals strives to convey that, and does it wisely, in a way that isn’t sentimental or pretentious.
While the ultimate revelation feels a little predictable, it works with the central idea: We’re all good people and bad people at the same time.
Sherman Alexie’s fantastic script, based on his own short story, deserves a lot of credit for the strength of the film. He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for it, and the charming Adams won for best debut performance. The film also won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Smoke Signals comes from a fabulous era in the 1990s when Miramax distributed many smart, funny and engaging independent films like this one. I really miss that time, but it’s nice to know there are films like this still around to be discovered by a new generation.
Although this film is about Native Americans and the cultural identity of the main characters is a strong theme, it’s a universal story that you could imagine happening in any culture, even any time period. That strikes a particular balance that you don’t always see, and it’s a big reason why Smoke Signals burns bright.
