One Dead Indian (2006)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fresh and Exciting

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is a decent movie of the week. It is nothing special like most dramatic movie of the week shows, with a limited budget and some overacting by some of the actors etc. It is a bit too melodramatic at times but it is still believably dramatic because it is based on the real events of Dudley George and the standoff that happened. This is good to watch because it shows a lot of the events that happened during the standoff and we all know what happens but it shows how things got to where they did, and why. I'm not sure how accurate and true the story is because I don't know that much about it but it's a good story with some real drama and you could do a lot worse with your time than watching this made for TV movie.

This movie tells it like it was; a justifiably harsh portrayal of police brutality against a much-maligned group of people who were just trying to make a point. It was also a fairly accurate picture of what Native people really are, and that's PEOPLE! They're regular people with problems, jobs, aspirations, hopes and dreams. They are not all drunks and they are not all wise and peaceful medicine men. They think and feel with their hearts, like many of us do.Gordon Tootoosis has a good role, sort of minor, and I feel it was a good thing, letting others into the spotlight. Everyone expects him to be a major player. Not this time.Dakota House plays a good 'angry young man', not quite a Warrior, but had the potential to be one, if he'd lived.I note with interest that two of the movie's key roles have been omitted from the cast at this site. Stephen McHattie plays the senior officer for the OPP, and the actor who plays Kenneth Deane is also not mentioned. Anyone know who he is and why he is not listed here? -Jack-

Let's look at this TV movie from an analysis of it's director and principal performers.Director Tim Southam - At times, he tries to be Hitchcock and Tarentino but mostly he tries to develop of his own Canadian style. His Hitchcockian touches include a firecracker scene teasing the audience into envisioning the inevitable gunshots. His Tarentinian touches include an opening scene whose blurred and frantic camera work is reminiscent of "Reservoir Dogs"( or "21 Grams") where Dudley's sister is racing to the hospital with her brother's bleeding body in the back and serves as the link between present scenes and flashbacks. His own personal touches include the incorporation of Native American culture in his film such as sweet grass smudging and pow-wow music. One poignant scene has the Gary Farmer character being smudged with sweet grass as a legal oath of honesty. This is neatly contrasted with Sgt. Deane, the white O.P.P., who is later sworn in with the Bible. Gary Farmer(SMOKE SIGNALS) His character is the wise elder who reminds the youth on a scene by a lake shore, that the Ipperwash conflict is not a culmination of past struggles (60 years by the movie's account) but it is more a promise for future claims. He, Dudley George and the other Chippewa protesters are doing all this for their future.Dakota House("North of Sixty")- He is perfectly cast as Dudley George, the self proclaimed "natural born a**hole", who moons the cops while flipping them profanities and the bird. Dudley's legacy is not due to any heroic or honourable deed. The legacy is in the ensuing inquiry where the justice department, in a move I pray will be copied, shows that there are not two separate laws, one for the Indians and one for the Government and Police Force, which was the concern of Dudley's brother Sam.Eric Schweig(THE MISSING) - Eric Schweig plays Sam George, Dudley's brother. His performance here is strong enough. However, anyone who saw the similarly themed TV movie "Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story" will experience deja vu as Schweig plays virtually the same character: the torment brother of the slain Indian protagonist who has visions of his brother's spirit throughout.Gordon Tootoosis(LONE STAR) - Fans of Gordon Tootoosis will be disappointed that Gary Farmer got the wise elder role and Tootoosis' character will be best remembered as the dirty old man who flirts awkwardly with the female cop. He does have one serious scene where he talks to Dudley on the bus on the night of the shooting. We find in this scene that Dudley was on the verge of overcoming his troublesome past at the time of the shooting, but this scene is unmemorable and Tootoosis's talents are wasted.Gabrielle Miller("Corner Gas") - She plays an aide to Ontario premier Harris. Her story seems to be a totally useless subtext. At the end of the film, before the credits, there is a "JFK" conspiracy moment that partly justifies this subtext but mostly this whole subtext belongs in a documentary. (See DEATH AT IPPERWASH)Overall, "One Dead Indian" is an adept portrait of a story that promises to be an important jigsaw piece in the puzzle of First Nations justice.

As background, in 1942, the Federal government appropriated lands from a native band in Ontario for military purposes and gave them $50,000. In 1981 they gave them an additional $2.5 million and are negotiating to return the lands.In 1995 a group of native protesters cut the fence at a nearby Provincial Park (here they are called protesters - if anyone else did this they would be trespassers or terrorists)and proceeded to occupy the park. When the Ontario Provincial Police attempted to regain the lands, a mêlée ensued and a young native man was shot.The movie tells the story of the events with the objectivity of Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11. The natives and left wingers will love the spin while conservatives will hate it.The acting is weak throughout, though not surprising given the lacklustre cast. Dakota House plays an angry young man (ooo - what a HUGE stretch for Dakota), Gordon Tootoosis is there (he is always there when they film a native movie in Canada) and Gary Farmer is his generally enjoyable self (some may remember him from the first season of Forever Knight).All in all a pretty mediocre production released as the Ipperwash hearings are resumed (coincidence I'm sure) - with the Premier (when the incident occurred) slated as an upcoming witness.