The Big Sky, based on
the novel by AB Guthrie Jr.
AB Guthrie is a genius and author of the
Pulitzer Prize winning chef d’oeuvre The Way West, which is the sequel to The
Big Sky, the former novel is reviewed here: http://realini.blogspot.ro/2016/01/the-way-west-by-b-guthrie-wonderful.html
The adaptation of his latter work has also
received recognition, it was nominated for two Academy Awards and is included
on the New York Times ‘Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list:
Jim Deakins fights with Boone Caudill when they
first meet, but they would become such good friends as for the latter to risk
his life for the former, only to become rivals, antagonists and then…maybe
close again.
The two men travel to a small town where they
want to find the man who is hard to find, until they all meet in…jail.
These are days when the territory of the United
States is still in the possession of the rightful owners, the Native Americans,
who are depicted in the manner specific to earlier friends, fighting the brave,
positive colonials.
The view in films from the early twentieth
century was that the white man is the hero, brave, Intrepid, explorer,
resilient, perseverant and the one destined to conquer and defeat what was then
called the Indian.
The Big Sky is more interesting, if not
contemporaneous, in its friendlier depiction of the Blackfoot and other tribes,
who at least cooperate, when they do not fight the white men and…dance.
This twirling plays though the stereotype,
demeaning perspective of the Native Americans, who look amusing, but in a
demeaning manner that makes them look primitive and childlike, naïve and gullible.
Boone and Jim join a party of adventurous, enterprising
men who want to go up the Missouri River, to places where the white man has not
reached, seeing as over there they will find furs and goods that they will be
able to get at the best price, outsmarting the competition, a company that resembles
some of the ruthless giants of today.
A viewer from this day and age will have to adapt
and consider things in perspective, for quite a few of the acts of the heroes
are, if not abominable, at the very least they are unethical and only
acceptable in the historical context.
The party of men, part of whom spoke French, takes
a Native American woman with them as prisoner, taking care that none of them
abuses her, only not because of ethics, morals, but on account of her use as negotiating
chip when traversing through potentially hostile territory controlled by her
kin.
In some ways, this reminds one of the
masterpiece directed by the brilliant, glorious director Werner Herzog,
Fitzcarraldo, wherein the hero commands an expedition that disembodies a ship
and takes it through the…South American jungle.
In the early stages of their journey, Jim Deakins
and his party have to fight not the Native Americans, but other white men and
the river, with its powerful force, which might bring one to recall another
quintessential motion picture that deals with the wild river, the ultimate
water drama, Deliverance.
The boat that the explorers, would be traders
use has to sail against the current and the men need to take ropes and pull it
from the banks, with many moments when this operation seems impossible and the
boat is nearly sunk, only to be set on fire later by enemies, saved and then in
peril yet again.
Teal Eye is the Native American woman who is considered
inferior by many, if not most or all the men in the group, with the expectation
of the leader of the team, Zeb Calloway and the two friends, Jim and Boone.
In a fight, Jim Deakins, played by the
always-great Kirk Douglas, is wounded seriously by a bullet that proves to be
originating from white men guns, again, and his friend risks his life to help
the injured mate.
Counterintuitively, or perhaps only naturally,
if we consider the Stockholm Syndrome and the habitual screenplays, Teal Eye is
not only participating in the expedition to bring back Jim, but goes beyond
humanitarian involvement.
When they find the injured man, he is very cold
and wet and he desperately needs heat, which Boone wants to provide with a
fire, only to be strongly discouraged by Teal Eye, who points out that the
enemy will see the smoke.
By the way, all the way through they have to
communicate with gestures, which they mostly fail to comprehend, for the only
one who understands the Native languages is Zeb, the others are nearly deaf and
mute in conversation with Teal and other Native Americans.
The surprise comes when, after taking Jim into
her arms to provide the heat that could not come from a visible, dangerous
fire, Teal Eye seems to prefer Boone over his friend and even this is not the
end of the unexpected occurrences and attitudes, that involve negotiating over
humans with rifles and other goods or beings that seem so awful in our time…
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