idrincon
It is a tough and painful movie to watch, so you should. For those who know something about Canadian History, the residential schools is one of those topics some prefer to evade. But you can't and very few (if any) movies have shown the reality as it was. Crude, painful, disturbing. There were a few scenes I had to turn away and pretend I did not see just because they are too strong. Midway through the movie you are led to believe there is a reason why this is happening, just to quickly realize there is not and this is just a big tragedy with no winners. Be brave, open your mind and watch this masterpiece.
sherimunroe
Every Canadian needs to watch this movie to learn of Canada's actual history towards the Indigenous people or as I would say "The First People" of this country. Perhaps if people watched this movie they would get a better understanding of what the government has done to generations of Canada's First People.
remember-315-777907
It was a heart-wrenching well acted movie. It showed briefly how disgusting the residential school life/death would have been for these youth. How self-righteous the priests & nuns really were despite the sexual abuse, cruelty & inhumanity they displayed towards children in their "care"...all the while insisting it was in the name of their GOD!
maurice yacowar
Dolby Sound is a vital force in this film. The narrative is framed - beginning and end - by unseen people around the theatre speaking as if before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. That was established to explore Canada's historic abuse of its indigenous citizens - from the notorious Catholic schools to the current injustice in the treatment of natives, especially the women.
When the film narrative unfurls it's the hero's own long and cripplingly suppressed story of his suffering. The surround sound voices put us in the committee, make us a witness and potentially a sharer of the speaker's horrid experience. That stereo adds to the immediacy of Richard Wagamese's source novel.
The story is so riveting and the social predicament it exposes so compelling that one can suspend ordinary judgments upon such things as the acting, the narrative rhythm, the emotional manipulation. The cause justifies the means.
All three actors who play Saul at various ages hold us, from the child's innocence through the adolescent's promising success to the adult's defeat. The climactic revelation of the six-year-old's exploitation provides an unexpected and summary shock.
Wagamese celebrates Canada's indigenous culture and spirituality in the face of its national oppression. The film does both his fine work and Canada's shame justice.
AD
