Winter In The Blood hit DVD on Jan. 20th from Alive Mind Cinema and Kino Lorber
There is a very small number of films made by native Americans about native Americans. As the exquisite documentary Reel Injun will tell you (and you should watch that right away on Netflix, by the by), Hollywood’s entire history is overflowing with hateful, inaccurate, racist, and just plain ignorant portrayals of the many tribes of Native People who lived all across North America before being driven into poverty and obscurity by white settlers. You shouldn’t need a documentary to tell you any of that, of course. Think of nearly any western. Even some of the most well-meaning works feature something spectacularly wrong involving these diverse people. With all that in mind, it’s quite an experience seeing something get their perspective right, and its even more enjoyable to see a film that is challenging, artistically rendered, and entertaining.
Winter In The Blood, based on the eponymous novel by Native American writer James Welch, tells the complex tale of Virgil First Raise, a self-destructive alcoholic living on a reservation in the far north of Montana. After an episode of brutally heavy drinking, the length of which is undetermined, he returns home to the news that his wife has left him and taken a rifle he has had since childhood. After a semi-recovery, he heads out in search of his lost wife… or the rifle… or something. While making his exit, he doesn’t make it entirely clear what his objective would be if he had one. We follow him on an hallucinatory journey through memories, dreams, and spirituality as he deals with his loss of identity and family.
I find it difficult to describe this movie. I know nothing about the novel, but watching the movie is almost like seeing the work of Hunter S. Thompson as an Indigenous Person. Virgil’s voyage is chronologically scattered. He reflects on his circumstances poetically as he tries to piece together half-remembered dreams and memories, and can no longer tell them apart. He enters these dreamscapes fluidly, in some of the most impressive editing I have ever seen in a low-budget film. The transitions are purposefully jarring, and effortlessly achieved. A couple of times, I almost jumped.
On this occasionally surreal sojourn, he encounters a cast of wonderful actors. David Morse appears as a mysterious jet setter who offers Virgil some unsavory work. The great Gary Farmer (Deadman) shows up in one of his funnier roles, and while not all of the performances from the supporting cast reach the quality of those gentlemen, these less experienced actors are always genuine and authentic. I found lead Chaske Spencer (whom you may recognize with digitally-enhanced abs in a few Twilight movies), as Virgil, in an act made mostly of grimaces, stumbling and anger, distinctly enjoyable.
This movie crept under my skin without effort. I have always been interested in the Indigenous People of North America. That interest comes with a lot of guilt, but it also comes with a greater understanding of our country, and the land, death, and culture on which it was founded. America’s gain is, originally, a story of the loss of several smaller nations founded long before white people arrived (not to mention that whole slavery thing). That incredible loss is at the heart of this film. Virgil has lost everything. Most of his family has died or been alienated. His wife has gone. Now, he is losing his memories. Without his personal history, how can he have an identity? Who is he when everything that made him is gone? How does he fit into the world? He is a microcosm of the modern Native American identity crisis.
Despite all of that crushing sadness… it should be noted how very funny the movie often is… honest!
THE PACKAGE
First, I need to mention how shocked I was by the image quality on this DVD. It looks great! You know how your Criterion DVD’s hold up a little better on your HDTV because of the high quality digital transfer? This looks even better than that. I was almost fooled into thinking they accidentally sent me a Blu-ray.
New Frontiers: Insightful and engaging making-of featurette
Deleted Scenes
Interviews: With a variety of cast and crew.
Podcast Interview with the directors: Very interesting dudes.
Trailer
