Movie Review: Smoke Signals

Posted by Rachel on: 06.16.2007 /

Forgiving Our Fathers

How do we forgive our fathers?
Maybe in a dream.
Do we forgive our fathers for leavin’ us too often
Or forever when we were little?
Maybe for scarin’ us with unexpected rage?
Or makin’ us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage at all?
Do we forgive our fathers for marryin’ or not marryin’ our mothers?
For divorcin’ or not divorcin’ our mothers?
And shall we forgive them for their excess of warmth or coldness?
Shall we forgive them for pushin’ or leanin’?
For shuttin’ doors?
For speakin’ through walls or never being silent?
Do we forgive our fathers in our age or in theirs?
Or in their deaths, sayin’ it to them?
Or not sayin’ it?
If we forgive our fathers, what is left?

For the June meeting of our movie group, four of my friends and I watched the film Smoke Signals. The setting of the movie is the Coeur D’Alene Indian Reservation in Plummer, Idaho. But as Karlene pointed out, “It was not so much a story about reservation life as it was a story about healing and reconciliation with your father.”

Smoke Signals tells the story of two young Native American men, Victor and Thomas, who have grown up together but see the world in completely different ways. Their lives have been closely intertwined ever since Victor’s father Arnold rescued the infant Thomas from a terrible fire. After Arnold dies unexpectedly, Victor and Thomas embark on a road trip together. Victor is determined to avoid the issues he most needs to resolve and Thomas is equally determined to help Victor confront them.

Our group would definitely recommend this movie. Aubrie appreciated that the story was not the stereotypical depiction of Native Americans so often seen in film. And Amy noted the underlying theme of the vision quest and pointed out that Thomas and Victor “needed to take the journey to get where they needed to be.”

The issues raised by the movie led us into a discussion of our own relationships with our fathers, some still living and others already gone. Karlene described her relationship with her father as “probably the most complicated relationship of my life.” Staci said, “In a patriarchal society, there is the societal expectation of exact perfect balance, strong but not mean, sensitive but not coddling. At some point, you realize daddy is not perfect.”

Amy reflected on the the difficult process of forgiveness and reconciliation. “When you’ve spent all this time in resentment, you have to reorder the relationship. The place of resentment has been your connection.” Karlene shared something she had read recently, “The opposite of love isn’t hatred, it’s apathy.”

Aubrie noted how important it is when a loved one dies to allow oneself to move through the stages of grief. Staci observed that Victor “never got to or needed to completely understand his father; he was able to realize that he meant something to his father and that was enough.”

The film concluded with “Forgiving Our Fathers” by Dick Lourie. We all identified in some way with the deeply conflicted emotions expressed in the poem.