ten-often I've always been a fan of stories about Native American life. Doesn't mean all the stories I read or watch end up being good.This is a good one. Also, as a citizen of the USA, it is a little odd to watch one regarding abuse and racism against Indians by the British via "Queen's Laws" in Canada instead of the USA, since most of the western world prefers to pretend only whites in the USA abused minorities.But beyond a reminder of just how recently people were torturing and destroying the lives of a darker skinned people, this story goes into the family relationships and survival techniques in a world which offered few options for those things which keep us human.

dan-a-bolivar If I were asked to define a POS movie... Rhymes for Young Ghouls would fit the description. You spend half the movie trying to figure out who is who. The acting is barely OK, but at its core this flick has little to offer and practically no redeeming quality whatsoever. Depressing and dark without any type of direction. Characters are shallow and portray the Native American as a worthless carcass of a person. Ridden with vices. It simply emphasizes the stereotype of the 'lazy Native American'. Paining a reality that is basically not helping anyone comprehend the true nature of the ethnic group. Focusing solely on the negative aspects with little in line with the rich TRUE nature of native beliefs.Even a story told by a grandmother to her 'inherited granddaughter' has no reason, logic or applicable teaching. Unlike ACTUAL Native American stories. This movie is shallow, soulless and frankly stupid.A total waste of time really.

Gage Diabo Movies that receive lasting attention tend to fall into two, non-mutually exclusive categories: Important Movies, which are significant but not necessarily good, and Great Movies, which are good but not necessarily significant. Rhymes for Young Ghouls is undoubtedly an Important Movie, but it is certainly not a Great Movie. Rhymes for Young Ghouls is Mi'kmaq director Jeff Barnaby's first feature and, despite the honest praise it has generated through festival engagements and local word-of-mouth, it shows. Although the typical plot synopsis makes the film's narrative seem relatively undaunting—simplistic, even—Barnaby's screenplay is far from a straightforward affair. Aila (Davery Jacobs) lives on the Red Crow reserve in the constant shadow of the residential school system, represented by a tyrannical, corrupt, and paedophilic Indian Affairs agent named Popper (an ethnically-ambiguous Mark Antony Krupa). Her mother (Roseanne Supernault) is dead, having committed suicide after accidentally running over Aila's baby brother during a drunken outing, and her father (Glen Gould) has spent most of her childhood away in prison, having taken the blame for the incident. Under the loose guidance of her shifty uncle Burner (Brandon Oakes), she runs a pot-dealing circuit, furnishing artisan-crafted joints for weekly Bacchanalian gatherings at her family's deserted compound, until her father's unexpected reappearance throws the entire operation into jeopardy and drags Popper violently back into the picture. That much of a setup would have been simple enough to support the film's central revenge plot against Popper and the residential school system. Rhymes for Young Ghouls, however, does itself the unfortunate disservice of extending its plot and characters too far for its 88-minute runtime to contain. The entire film plays like a garbled, heavily-condensed version of much longer and presumably more fleshed-out screenplay. Barnaby's script throws around too many inadequately-drawn characters and off-screen backstory in its opening minutes for the audience to reasonably follow (the thick rez accents affected by the main characters only aggravates the issue), making the remainder of the plot nigh on incomprehensible, even after a second viewing. Aila, for instance, has two stoner sidekicks, Sholo and Angus, whose personalities, relationships, and significance to the plot are sped through in one breakneck exchange of dialogue. There is also a grandmother figure, who inexplicably claims to not even be Aila's real grandmother and whose only ostensible purpose is to front Aila's grow-op and to slow down the narrative with a blatantly reflexive interlude of oral history. There is a big difference between ambiguity and incoherence, and this film veers decisively into the latter territory.Assuming that the narrative itself isn't also some kind of similarly-allegorical Thomas King-esque pastiche of oral history-—which I think would be giving Barnaby way too much credit—-the way that Rhymes for Young Ghouls plays out relies far too heavily on convenience and loose ends to work in the manner that a plot-driven picture like this requires. Popper, his henchmen, and the residential school for which they work as enforcers are initially painted as some kind of insurmountable menace on the Red Crow reserve, and yet both Aila and her kindergarten-aged protégé are apparently able to slip through their clutches and to walk right out of the residential school without any opposition whatsoever. Aila's father receives so many bludgeons to the face by the end of the film that it is a wonder he doesn't die of severe head trauma. I get the impression that Rhymes for Young Ghouls is desperately trying to tell me something or to make some kind of crucial point, but, even after two viewings, I still can't bother to trudge through the quagmire of its plot long enough to be able to engage with it at any deeper level. I'm all for a film that demands work from the audience to arrive at some semblance of meaning, but I draw the line at this one.This is not to say that the film offers nothing of value. To be fair, I'm almost willing to forgive Rhymes for Young Ghouls' narrative shortcomings on the sheer strength of its performances and its virtuosic visuals. Devery Jacobs, without exactly knocking it out the park and lacking the charisma to effectively carry the film, surely deserves the accolades she's received for the angsty reticence she brings to her role. Michel St. Martin, a thus-far undistinguished cinematographer, shot this film and infuses it with some truly unforgettable images; there is both tremendous beauty and unflinching horror in this film. The opening credits sequence, consisting of a slow-motion tracking shot of drunken Indians being savagely beaten by Popper's henchmen outside of a strip club while the Black Keys play on the soundtrack, teases the audience with the promise of a masterful slice of pure cinema that, sadly, the film's garbled plot fails to follow up on. Although it is impossible not to roll one's eyes at Jeff Barnaby's repeated comparisons of the film to the likes of Inglourious Basterds and A Clockwork Orange (one of the characters even throws out the word "horrorshow" at one point), it is not a stretch to wonder if, with a tighter narrative and richer characterization, Barnaby and company could have come close.Rhymes for Young Ghouls, while not a Great Film, will hopefully come to be widely recognized as an Important Film and open the floodgates for more mainstream projects by aboriginal artists. Although, as a tale of the unspeakable horrors of the residential school system in Canada, Rhymes for Young Ghouls pales in comparison to those of indigenous novelists like Thompson Highway, Richard Wagamese, Eden Robinson and Joseph Boyden, it is a clear step in the right direction that Barnaby's film has sparked further dialogue about Canada's dark past, both domestically and internationally. I may not be particularly sold on it, but, ideologically, I'm loath to wish failure upon it; if this is where First Nations cinema is going, I eagerly await to see where it finally ends up.

meddlecore Rhymes For Young Ghouls is a tale of revenge set within the context of Canada's Residential School era- during which older generations of Indians faced systematic oppression from the state, stemming from policies that was effectively genocidal. Today's indigenous communities are still reeling from the effects of such policies (one of which is cited in the opening of the film) today.Their collective experience is summed up in a quote made by the film's main character- Aila- who says, "This is what brings my people together...the art of forgetfulness," when speaking about the tendency for members of their community to become reliant upon drugs and alcohol as an escape from the traumatic memories that were consequential of white subjugation. A theme that is confronted throughout the film.Rhymes For Young Ghouls is Mi'kmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby's freshman feature (having two short films already to his credit)- and he's done a damn fine job with it. On top of writing and directing this emotional roller-coaster, he also recorded the original score himself (playing a number of instruments in the process). His talents are clearly multifaceted.The film tells the story of an extended M'ikmaq family, from the Red Crow Rez, who are persistently harassed by a sadistically racist Indian Agent named Popper (Mark Krupa). The Father is played by Glen Gould, the uncle is played by Brandon Oakes, and the main character, Aila, is played by the truly stunning Devery Jacobs (who was looking drop dead sexy in her dress at TIFF).It all begins when Aila's brother is accidentally killed during a drunk driving incident. Feeling responsible, Aila's mother is unable to cope with the grief and ends up committing suicide. Her father is then arrested for the murder, and a 10-year old Aila is left to fend for herself.The film then fast forwards to Aila's teenage years. She is no longer a little girl. Rather, the head of a relatively successful drug dealing operation. Aila runs and organizes everything: buying weed from the town's old woman, employing her friends to make the deals, and making sure the "truancy taxes" are paid off to the Indian Agents each month. If these truancy taxes are not paid accordingly, the kids will find themselves "disappeared" into the Residential School system.Aila and her friends are constantly under the watchful eye of Popper, a racist Indian Agent who exploits every given oppourtunity to violently beat and extort them. In the Q&A Krupa said he based the Popper character off of Ude from Schindler's List...but he's more reminiscent of Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet, if you ask me. Really over the top, in a dramatically sadistic sense.Popper is always using COINTELPRO tactics against the Native community in an attempt to turn them against one another. The plot derives from an incident where Popper robs and beats a boy named Milch- one of the local kids that works for Aila. He seizes all of Milch's dope and money- the money they need to re-up and pay off their truancy taxes.Popper's hatred of Aila hearkens back to his relationship with her father, Joseph. Popper and Joseph went to Residential School together. There was an instance where Popper was getting picked on by two of the other students, before Joseph intervened and knocked the kids out. Despite saving him, Joseph was set to be punished by the Priest- and Popper was tasked with carrying out the actual beating. And ever since...he's seemed to have it out for Joseph.Following the incident with Milch, Aila- with help from her little buddy on the inside- develops a plan to break into the school, steal their money back, and reap vengeance on Popper- who really deserves his comeuppance after stomping her face.However, before the crew gets the chance to put their plan into action, Joseph is released from jail. Which triggers a number of bizarre occurrences- including the return of Aila's zombie mother and brother (meant to leave you reflecting on the post-colonial Native American experience). This culminates with Joseph being beaten and re-arrested- for taking a boat out on the water during a ban- and Aila being thrown into the Residential School system.Lucky for her, her little buddy helps her escape- and the crew are able to put their plan into action. After smoking a joint first, of course.Dawned in masks the group break into the school, seek to free Aila's dad, and pull off their hilarious revenge plot directed at Popper.But the obsessive psychopath that he is, Popper isn't able to laugh it off. Instead, he comes back for them wielding a shotgun, hellbent on raping Aila. I won't reveal how it all goes down, but I will say that the film has an explosive conclusion which had the audience cheering at the TIFF screening I attended.The film provides commentary on a number of social issues that currently affect our Native communities: such as alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, suicide, and the reeling effects stemming from the destruction of their culture. Though, it does seem to lay the blame for many of these problems- at least partially- at the feet of both parties (if I read it correctly).When all is said and done, Rhymes For Young Ghouls is a really excellent film. It's funny, stylish and exciting, yet utterly disturbing and really sad at parts. Barnaby has managed to fashion a story that is set 50-60 years ago with a modern vibe that will appeal to mainstream audiences. I really feel that this film can be enjoyed by a diverse crowd of people, if given a chance. It would be nice to see it get distribution into some Canadian theatres. Highly recommended! 7.5 out 10.