Smoke Signals

I firmly believe that all who view the movie will consider it a valuable part of their DVD collection and it will be played on more than a few occassions. All these five star ratings say something about this flick, folks! Trust it, you'll be glad you did!


its a good day to be indigenous!   January 20, 2003
Koni Kincaid (Richland, Washington United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is truly a must for your vidoeo collection!!! A great story with funny,sad,inspiring,truthful dialogue.
shots of the CDA rez are great! especially with Lester falls apart (the traffic/weatherman) sitting by the roadside

1 I have driven thru there many times and after seeing Smoke Signals, I expect to see Lester sitting on a van by the road! haha
this is a movie that you can watch again and again and you will see and hear something you didnt get the last time you watched it. one of my favorites is the shot at Riverfront park in Spokane.WA. where Victor finally mourns.. and look for what rises in the water!
and the poem at the end is outstanding.
Evan Adams and Adam Beach work great together in this film!
Also look for the Business of Fancydancing by Sherman Alexie a new movie directd by Alexie. to learn more go to fallsapart.com
oh ya get the soundtrack for smoke signals too.


Native American Excellence   March 27, 2003
Kris Zahrobsky (Berwyn, IL USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Its hard to write the words that best describe this movie. What an emotional, honest, and respectful piece of work. Chris Eyre really shows his directional skills by composing a masterpiece. Not only do you become emersed in our main characters' journey, but you make your own memories as well. There aren't too many Native American-made movies out there, but this movie is truly among the best of them. It compares to 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Thunderheart' easily! Look for Chris' new movie, 'Skins,' out on DVD. A masterpiece and a must see!


Another winner from Eyre   January 7, 2005
Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Shortly after receiving my driver's license I decided to take a road trip through Nebraska. At one point in my journey I suddenly noticed Indians everywhere--driving down the road, sitting in parking lots off the state highway, and standing in front of decrepit looking buildings. "What's going on here?" I said to myself, not knowing at the time that I was cruising through the Winnebago reservation in Northern Nebraska. I always tell this story to friends nowadays, especially ones who champion Native American rights, and it never fails to get a laugh. Why? Because they know most of us rarely encounter Indians, let alone spend any time on reservations. Out here in the Midwest, you will still meet Native Americans from time to time outside of reservations. If you live on the East or West Coast of the United States, however, you probably have little interaction with Indians. Oh, you might have seen one on a college campus, or know someone who knows someone who has some "Indian blood" flowing through their veins, but most Americans have only seen Indians in old photographs or on television. In short, most of us have little idea about the lives of modern day Native Americans.

Director Chris Eyre's three films, "Skins," "Skinwalkers," and "Smoke Signals," put Indian characters center stage. "Smoke Signals" is the story of Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) and Thomas Builds the Fire (Evan Adams), two young men living on a reservation in Idaho. Years before the events we see in the film, Victor's father Arnold (Gary Farmer) rescued Thomas from a house fire that claimed the lives of his parents. The deed assumed, rightfully so, legendary dimensions on the reservation, and no one promotes this magnificent act more than Thomas Builds the Fire. A geeky, frequently poetic soul prone to rambling statements of epic sweep in a voice that could melt eardrums, Thomas annoys Victor to no end. It isn't the tone of Thomas voice or even his penchant for storytelling that works on Victor's last nerve, but the lionization of his father Arnold. A few years after the rescue, Arnold ran out on his son and wife and headed to Arizona. That he never returned angers Victor to end, almost as much as his recollections of Arnold's abusive behavior and chronic alcoholism. Thomas never saw any of this behavior, so his recollections revolve around the rescue and the day Arnold took the boy out to breakfast at a restaurant. These two differing perspectives of the same man form the crux of "Smoke Signals."

One day Victor learns that his father has passed away and that he must go to Arizona to collect the man's ashes. Unfortunately for him, he can only afford to make the journey when Thomas offers to pay for the bus trip. Of course, Thomas insists on going along. What follows are a series of adventures, some amusing and some serious, as the two young men draw closer and closer to fulfilling their task. In a hilarious scene on the bus, Victor instructs Thomas on how to act like a real Indian (quit grinning like an idiot, adopt a serious mien) and gets into an argument with a passenger claiming to be a former Olympic gymnast. Victor Joseph doesn't appear to suffer fools kindly, and he often takes his anger about his life out on complete strangers, something that completely mystifies his friend Thomas. Victor's bad attitude continues once the two reach Arnold's trailer out in the desert. It appears that Arnold Joseph took up with Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), a beautiful young woman who also has many positive memories of the man. At first, Victor can barely stand listening to Suzy and Thomas exchanging these happy tales, but he eventually begins to understand that his father had a side he never knew about.

I've seen all three Chris Eyre films, and I have to say that "Smoke Signals" is the most "Indian" of the three in that the answers to the story aren't offered to the audience on a silver platter. A person watching this film must actually think about what is happening onscreen or they won't get anything out of it. You might laugh a few times, about the aforementioned "act like an Indian" scene or the amusing KREZ traffic reporter sitting on the top of a broken down van at the side of an abandoned road, but you won't pick up on any of the emotional and psychological themes. I took the movie as an examination of how any one individual embodies both good and bad traits, and that these traits inspire different responses in different people. No one recollection of a person defines who that person is in their sum total, and only by learning different perspectives about someone can we even begin to approach the truth about that individual's real identity. Of course, I could be completely wrong. The good thing about "Smoke Signals" is that you can take away multiple meanings from the film and still enjoy the performances, the humor, and the drama.

Another great element, found in all of Chris Eyre's films, is his refusal to play the often tiresome political correctness card. His movies always contain a few references to indignities Indians suffer and continue to suffer in this country, but he always relegates such comments to just one aspect of their existence. The director's concerns rest more on presenting his characters as real people dealing with universal human problems than worrying about who broke what treaty back in the nineteenth century. Chris Eyre is a magnificent director who could probably lens a film in any genre with any cast and do a wonderful job. I hope he keeps working in the future.