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Pow Wow Highway [VHS]

Pow Wow Highway [VHS]
Directed by Jonathan Wacks

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Gary Farmer (Smoke Signals) is the standout in a fine film by Jonathan Wacks about an oversized Cheyenne man-child (Farmer) who decides to go on a spiritual quest, while simultaneously giving a ride to his lifelong Indian activist friend (A. Martinez). The film takes us through some pretty desolate Indian communities, but while Wacks makes a point of revealing harsher aspects of life on some reservations, the emphasis is on Farmer's delightful performance. A bonus: among the cast are Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves) and Wes Studi (The Last of the Mohicans), neither of whom were well-known in 1989, the year this film was released. --Tom Keogh



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Contemporary Native American Road Movie
A road movie about two contemporary Cheyenne traveling down to New Mexico to spring a relative from prison. Buddy Red Bow (A. Martinez) is a young militant activist with a quick, angry temper. His gargantuan friend, Philbert (Gary Farmer), is a portrait of inner peace with an unlimited appetite to match. Together they mirror the political and spiritual aspects of modern Indian life. Buddy wants to protect his people from the forces of greed surrounding them (his sister is framed on a phony drug charge to lure him off the rez during a crucial tribal council vote). Philbert wants to find his soul-power as a Cheyenne warrior would have done in the old days (his battered auto is christened "Protector"). The pragmatism of the former and the dreaminess of the other first clash but eventually compliment. The foundation of this story is as much about their past and present relationship as the adventure of getting to their destination and home again in one piece. This is the first mainstream movie that deals intelligently with current issues facing native peoples, "Powwow" got over-shadowed by the "Dances With Wolves" hoopla that followed on the heels of its release. A pity, too, because this is a far superior movie that achieved cult status for a time. Both leads portray three-dimensional characters that play off each other with humor and irony, never dissolving into caricature. Includes an effective soundtrack by Robbie Robertson which set him on his current path of working with contemporary native musicians.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A Shaman in born
This is an excellent video that leads the audience to empathy and birth. It presented the process of passing a heritage -- stories, legends, myths, and culture -- onto the next generation. When a Native American follows the Red Road, he knows that he must put the next and next and next generation onto the same road. This is what happens in this excellently presented visual media presentation!


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Welcome to the third world
"Powwow Highway" is a tale of Native American life today, which is very third world. The film is told via the contrasting stories of two Cheyenne men from Lame Deer, Montana.

Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer) is a big, gentle soul who trades his homegrown weed for a `war pony', a beat up old rustbucket of a car, to go out on a traditional vision quest. He's going to achieve his medicine by gaining three tokens on the way.

The first thing he gains is a passenger, his high school best friend, Buddy RedBow (A. Martinez). Buddy's been claiming his Native American heritage in a more traditional way. A member of AIM (The American Indian Movement) he's been at Wounded Knee and has earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam.

Buddy had no plans to leave the rez. There's a critical vote coming up on some land issues and he needs to be there to get his tribal members out to the polls, but his sister Bonnie RedBow ( Joannelle Nadine Romero) got arrested in New Mexico on a trumped up drug charge and he's the only one who can get her out of jail and back to her two very young kids.

The story's very much an `odd couple' pairing between the two men who take radically different approaches to solving problems. RedBow is much more confrontational while the gentle Bono seeks ancient wisdom.

"Powwow Highway" takes viewers across the gambit of emotions. You cannot look upon the third world vistas of Native poverty without being moved to tears. But, there are light moments where Philbert is telling ancient stories to his friends.

The soundtrack of this film is also excellent. Robbie Robertson provides much of the music, which is well worth listening to.

My only wish would be to see some bios of the cast of this film. A. Martinez, Gary Farmer, and the others are all people who I'd like to learn more about.

Rebecca Kyle, June 2008


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - choosing sides, playing with stereotypes
I very much enjoyed Smoke Signals, and this was next on my list. I love the humor, which is subtle. The movie mocks at our stereotypes, but also reminds us that some stereotypes are true.
I found that the physical road travelled in this movie is similar to the travels of the Cheyenne as they were herded northward. That made the movie even more special.
What was interesting to me was the way the "old ways", spirituality, campaigning for rights, and militant revolt all played roles in the movie. Each of us must always try to figure out ways to react to injustices done to us, and this movie offered several possibilities.
The plot could use some strengthening, but the movie was fun to watch, especially when one could fall into the director's point of view of the slightly mocking and yet truthful way of seeing the world from a contemporary Cheyenne viewpoint. I found it more humorous with each watching!


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Authentic
At the time of purchase I was dating a man who is 3/4 Cheyenne. He loves this movie - says it is authentic of Native American culture. He grew up in Lame Deer, MT, and knows some of the actors in the film, so this only adds to his pleasure.



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - great movie
One of my old favorites and now glad to own it! Quality of product was recieved as advertised.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - A good snapshot of the Indian experience today
I have a ritual of watching "Powwow Highway" once a year, usually around Christmas, as that is when the movie is set. The movie was produced by Beatle George Harrison's company, and I feel it offered many opportunities for Native American actors and musicians to get some notice.
As has been mentioned by other reviewers, actors Wes Studi (Heat; Mohicans) and Graham Greene (Thunderheart)were in the movie, as was activist, songwriter John Trudell. Pay some attention to the end-credits as they role and study the names. Many of them have done well since the 1989 filming.
As was mentioned elsewhere, musician Robbie Robertson (The Band), who has some Native American blood, provides some haunting and exciting songs from one of his solo albums (1987, I think). Native American fluist Carlos Nakai provides the opening musical sequence. Floyd Westerman, whom I met before he died, was the voice of a Native American trucker from Sturgis, SD, talking to Gary Farmer (who plays the lead character Philbert), lamenting the fact that today's Indian youth don't know anything about their legends or heritage.
I felt the the movie really touched on some important issues: the polluting of the Western lands, improper diet (Philbert lived on grease, beer, sweets and carcinogens), powwows on reservations, problems on reservations, such as alcohol abuse, alcohol-related killings, substandard housing and conflicts between AIM and the big-bucks corporate types). Leonard Peltier, a real-life figure currently in prison, was mentioned, as was Wounded Knee and the grim results of Vietnam at a person level (e.g., a mind-scrambled ex-POW Graham Greene).
Two touching scenes feature the travelers visiting Fort Robinson in the snow (where hundreds of Indians died needlessly) and where Philbert shares an Indian story about a husband searching for juicy plums in the stream and falling in, when the actual plums were above him all the time, within his grasp.
If you can get past the really foul, four-letter language of the movie, which really detracted from the movie, it's a pretty good one that still stands up after 19 years.
On a personal note, I missed seeing actor Gary Farmer in New York City a couple of years ago. I happened to be up there and had booked a flight home early that evening, meaning that I had to head out to the airport at about 3pm. I couldn't change the flight. That afternoon at one of the NYC museums, Farmer was scheduled to give a lecture on Powwow Highway after it aired. It would have been really great to attend that, as I've practically memorized the movie.
....Karl


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Must see
Pow Wow Highway is a brilliantly written and acted on-the-road movie, featuring an almost all indigenous cast. The humor is unexpectedly moving, and the characters are extremely memorable. I recommend this one as a gift for family and friends too! (some bad language, but entirely in context)


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Pow Wow Highway
I really enjoyed this DVD. I had the movie in VHS, but lent it out to someone who never returned it. I am glad that I could get it in DVD. I bought 2 copies. One for me and one for my mother-in-law. I watched it twice right after I received it.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - They don't all own Casinos
A true and touching story of the real experience of the native americans.
This movie will make you laugh, get annoyed, maybe angry in spots (it SHOULD) and maybe tear up a bit in places but the spiritual message and "happy" completion of the movie makes for an excellent film.
It's no "WIND WALKER"--but nothing will ever touch THAT movie for sheer greatness---but Pow Wow Highway is rather an essential watch, just for your spirit.




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