Customer Reviews

Pow Wow Highway [VHS]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first time I saw this movie, I was struck mostly by how much fun it was to watch. There is an offbeat, good-natured humour that softens the harshness of some of the settings and situations. (Much of the music is beautiful--it's by Robbie Robertson but he's not mentioned for it in the credits.) The story line is well-developed, with good transitions between two converging sub-plots. The basic plot is quite simple: two friends, Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer) and Buddy RedBow (A Martinez) take off on a road trip from a Montana Indian reservation to New Mexico in order to get RedBow's sister out of jail. Along the way they form a friendship, despite differences in personality and ways of looking at life.

After seeing the movie a second time, it became clear to me that much of what divides them in the beginning has to do with different styles of being or becoming a "warrior." Redbow is a Vietnam vet, as well as an activist who was present at the Wounded Knee conflict. He has a lot of anger about the depredations of white people as well as, I suspect, his Vietnam experience. His idea of carrying out a campaign has to do with fighting, guns, and discharging rage.

Philbert Bono, on the other hand, has never seen any combat action. He's a peaceful sort and regarded by others as an overweight buffoon. However, he's on a spiritual quest to gather power and become a spiritual warrior. His idea of carrying out a campaign has to do with getting the universal forces on his side. The dynamic tension between Philbert and Buddy define the second plot that runs parallel to the basic story line.

By the end of the film the two men have worked out a strong friendship and respectful working relationship, but it is clearly Philbert's approach to warriorship which ultimately carries more weight. The movie does have a few plot flaws, but they are insignificant compared to the interest evoked by Philbert Bono's journey, which is one of inner seeking combined with action in the outer world.

This deceptively simple "road buddy" film was first introduced to me in 1991 when I was researching Native American culture for my 2 children so they would better understand their heritage. What a feast for the eyes,ears and spirit! The score,some of it by Robbie Robertson (U2) is a wonderfully effective backdrop that carries us into the world of one Native American's unique vision quest. One scene that comes to mind is when the gentle Cheyenne named Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer) surveys a dilapidated junk yard full of wrecked cars, but sees instead a herd of wild ponies galloping on the plain. His choice of a "pony" is a broken down Buick,yet to him it's as noble as any horse that ever ran. And so it goes. A. Martinez is facinating as Buddy RedBow, Philbert's activist friend who joins him on the road. The film weaves together humor and pathos,fantasy and realism for a story that entertains while it touches the spirit and makes one feel,at least for a little while, as if life could indeed be as Philbert sees it; and wouldn't that be a wonderful,magical thing! I have not seen this film since 1992 and thought I might never again. That Pow Wow Highway is available now is a dream come true. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Not my usual film fare, I happened to bump into this film by accident and I'm glad I did. While my knowledge about Native American culture is anything but comprehensive, I found myself swept along 'Pow Wow Highway.' A touching and funny peek into the reservation blues that are part and parcel of the American 'Indian' experience, this film touches all who take a chance on it.

This could have another been another Smoke Signals, poignant and light-hearted, but this film has more meat to it. The reason: the very meaty and lovable Gary Farmer. Farmer's heart-warming performance as Philbert Bono---overweight warrior on his own vision quest---is reason enough to watch this film. Farmer's character doesn't say much nor does he need to. Every stare, twinkle in the eye, and puckish smile tells us everything we need to know.

The film starts off with Philbert daydreaming in his reservation's junk yard. The ugliness of reservation reality surrounds: flimsy mobile homes and trashed-out cars, but Philbert sees beyond all that. He spies himself his 'war-pony,' a rusted-out '64 Buick and saddles up for his adventure. His quest is to become a true Cheyenne warrior. Things don't start off so smoothly as Philbert's childhood friend, the angry young AIM-er, Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez), sets out to rescue his sister. Caught with weed in her car, Red Bow is determined to set her free from the hayseed Anglo cops of the Santa Fe PD. Thus begins Red Bow and Philbert's journey of self-discovery. A journey of finding out what it means to be Native American, and more importantly, what it means to be human. Like Sancho Panza and Don Quixote, Philbert and Red Bow represent two sides of the human coin: passion and reason. Red Bow is all anger and resentment against an Establishment that has robbed, raped and killed his people for over three hundred years. In every scene, we see the seething revolutionary ready to strike. At anybody. One of the film's funniest scenes is when the war pony needs a stereo. Confronted with a condescending salesman, they surprise him and buy the priciest stuff in the shop, shattering his 'impoverished Indian' stereotype. Soon installed in the pony, the new equipment doesn't seem to work, sending Red Bow into a rage, thrashing both shop and owner. And through it all, Philbert searches for and finds the problem: in the instruction manual. Think before you act. A clichéed lesson, but valuable all the same. This interplay between Philbert and Red Bow dominates the whole trip. Whereas Red Bow talks like a warrior, Philbert acts like one. With shrewdness, intelligence, dignity and most of all, humor, Philbert becomes the 'trickster' indeed, masking a deepness of character beneath his childish silliness. Red Bow bitches about the Pine Ridge Pow Wow being nothing more than 'drums in a gym,' while Philbert involves himself in every bit of his past he can. He beats the drum, he climbs the sacred Black Hills, he talks of Cheyenne legends over the CB, while Red Bow fumes and glooms. Red Bow even mistakes the Hills for 'somewhere outside Pueblo.' A grand faux pas. As a result, it is Philbert who becomes the real hero, the real warrior. His weapon is his quietly earned self-knowledge. With silent strength and subtle humour, he takes back what Red Bow with all his rebellion can't: an identity nearly destroyed through years of oppression and negligence. It is no coincidence that by the time they free Red Bow's sister (again, Philbert's doing), Philbert has transformed into his real self: Nightcloud Whirlwind, a warrior.

The beauty of this film is that is goes far beyond social history. Pow Wow Highway shows the wide range of 'types' in the Native American community from assimilated 'collaborator' selling tribal land to mining companies to the tortured and lost Vietnam veteran (brilliantly played by Graham Greene). So wide and rich is the film's parade of characters that we forget that this is supposed to be a 'Native American' film. We see friends and family in these characters and yes, eventually ourselves. And this I think was director Wack's goal: to break down the borders set up by our labels, Native American or otherwise.

While the ending is a bit too predictable and some characters never really get to fly (Red Bow's sister, the fellow AIM activist), Pow Wow Highway is well worth the watching. Follow Nightcloud Whirlwind as he proves the adage: its the quiet ones you need to watch out for.

A wonderful movie with the ultimate message, in my view, that we each create the world in which we live. Put another way, you reap what you sow. The movie tells the story of the journey of two friends who view life from opposite poles. One (Martinez) is a rebel so bent beneath the weight of the chip on his shoulder he can hardly move. He greets the world with rage and impatience, reactionary and impulsive, and is frustrated by obstructions at every turn. The other (Farmer) lives in an entirly different world, where the spiritual infuses everyday life and the "outer" world is shaped by the "inner"; where things happen at their own pace and as they are meant to; where stories hold wisdom and a Journey has meaning. Nothing could infuriate his friend more.

Martinez and Farmer are great as the travelling pair, and each brings a depth to their character that makes this much, much more than a simple "buddies on the road" movie. It reminds us, most importantly, that we can choose the path on which we walk, and that others have left guideposts along the way.</p>

There have been a plethora movies about Native Americans in recent years, which are a bit misleading. For instance, Sherman Alexie in his movie Smoke Signals, portrays us as half-minded individuals who never leave their reservations. Watching these sorts of movies, I feel somewhat offended. In addition, the Indians on Smoke Signals spoke with a southern Accent, which makes them sound retarded! Well, the makers of Pow Wow Highway didn't distort the facts, the way others movies have.

The protagonist is a political activist, named Sunny Redbow, who is protesting the installation of a mine(in all probability a pit-mine, which just destroys the beauty of an area) on the Lame Deer Indian Reservation. So the organization which is trying to build the mine, diverts Redbow's efforts by having the FBI(which was run in a despotic J. Edgar Hoover-esque way at the time), arrest his sister, Bonnie Redbow, on some bogus drug charge. After this, the movie takes a sort of "48 hours" buddy movie twist. To clarify, Sunny Redbow doesn't have the necessary means to get to Santa Fe, New Mexico(where Bonnie was arrested), so he asks his best friend, Philbert Bono, to give him a ride. Philbert Bono, who recently just acquired a vehicle, which he affectionately refers to as his "War Pony", agrees. And the interval between Sunny Redbow's departure from Lame Deer Montana, to the freeing of Bonnie Redbow in New Mexico, is probably the most hilarious few hours I have had the pleasure to visualize. They encounter members of the GOON squad(an anti-AIM organization funded by the US government, which intimidated red nationalists by scare tactics, such as drive-by shootings and physical assault), the Sante Fe police department, fellow Indians, and of course, the elements(i.e. the weather). Without question, this is one of the five best movies that you will ever see, so please, purchase it.

I bought "Pow Wow Highway" because it was recommended as something I would like because I had purchased "smoke signals". Normally, I don't bother with these recommendations from Amazon, but this time (on a whim) I bought "Pow Wow Highway" and I am so glad I did!

Being part Cherokee, it's hard to describe the mix of feelings this film brought out in me. This feeling was only enhanced by the powerful use of Robbie Robertson's "fallen angel" in the scenes with Filbert. Knowing the song very well, and knowing how it was used in the film, it brought tears to my eyes. It made both the movie and the song that much more powerful.

I won't repeat what others here have done by outlining the plot, but I will say I agree with one reviewer: this film is a study in two ways of approaching being a warrior. It's two warriors fighting the same fight in two different ways. A totally incredible, breathtaking film.

I don't want to give as much of the story away as other reviewers have done. See it for yourself. Gary Farmer as Philbert, the would-be gentle Cheyenne warrior gives a performance that is absolutely remarkable in its sweetness, subtlety and beauty.

At first I didn't want to see it because I loved SMOKE SIGNALS and thought it sounded similar. It is and it isn't. SMOKE SIGNALS is about boys; POW WOW HIGHWAY is about men although both are road and reservation stories. Here the road and reservation landscapes show you an America both wrenchingly painful and beautiful. Don't miss it!!! Philbert's slow and radiant smile is worth the price of admission alone.

Pow Wow Highway is a must-see for anyone interested in contemporary American Indian issues and activism. I won't recount the story - the summary and other reviewers have already done a fine job. The music of Robbie Robertson and U2 are a bonus to an already fine movie that SHOULD be released on DVD. My personal trilogy of best Indian movies is headed up by Pow Wow Highway, followed by Dance Me Outside and Smoke Signals. For an entertaining and enlightening experience - watch them all.

This review is for the VHS edition.
"Philbert" (Gary Farmer) is a care-free Indian man. He is looking for his "blessings". Nothing gets him down. He loves nature and horses, especially pow-wows. He is in search of a pony. That is why he is in a dumped car lot, to buy his "pony" car.
He urgently must get to Santa Fe, New Mexico to bail his sister out of jail. He wants the children and mother to be together for Christmas.
Philbert agrees to take Buddy in his "pony" and together they go on a traveling adventure. Philbert has his own agenda. He needs to find four tokens along the way so he can have good medicine and feel better.
Fun film to watch and I do not think it is insulting to Indians. It only makes me appreciate Indians more.
Cast also includes: Joanelle Nadine Romero, Wayne Waterman (as "Wolf Tooth"), Margo Kane and Graham Greene.

I was loaned this movie from a friend who had recorded it from the tv. It thrilled me from start to finish. Delbert (Gary Farmer who made me appreciate fat guys) was totally amazing. His sweet innocence captivated me. His unrelenting quest made me realise how important it is to have integrity. I have a group of Indian actors who I would go and see whatever the bad script they get. Grahame Green is so versatile he just leaves me open-mouthed. The scenes are so real too. I've been to Pineridge and it's all true ... even now. I showed this movie to my Lakota friend and she didn't see it the same way at all. She thought the film showed Delbert to be a hapless simpleton. I was amazed that she got that impression. She's an elder too. I have bought my own copy which is an original and now worth a lot of money. I may copy it onto dvd and sell the video. Anyway I recommend this video to anyone who is trying to understand about the plight of the native American on the rezervation. It's the story of Delbert and his radical friend Buddy Red Bow and their journey to Sante Fe to rescue Buddy's sister wrongly accused of drugs. Delbert makes a detour to south Dakota and Pineridge to gain power for their quest. Best bits: On top of the sacred mountain where he leaves his hershey bar as a token. Worst bit: Where Buddy trashes a car radio store and Delbert is seen helping himself to money from the jail (even though it's justified) giving the impression that natives are bad. I have watched it a lot of times which may be sad but I find it totally inspiring.