Customer Reviews

Silent Tongue [VHS]

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

 

 

Sam Shepard, the writer/director of "Silent Tongue," is one of the big names in contemporary American theatre. So it comes as no surprise that his two feature films--also, "Far North"--have a distinctly theatrical tone. General audiences may not have a taste for this, but Shepard's films do reward additional viewings, and both have grown on me in a big way.

"Silent Tongue" is a ghost story which uncovers a disturbing sickness at the heart of the Old West. River Phoenix becomes mentally unhinged when his Native American bride dies in childbirth. This sends his father, Richard Harris, on a journey to try and find another woman for his son. Exhibiting tragically limited imagination, the father returns to the traveling circus where he traded horses for the first woman, and he attempt a second bargain for the woman's sister. In the end, the sister must confront the dead woman's ghost, and we learn the dark secret of their past.

Phoenix is eerily convincing as the mad Talbot Roe, and Richard Harris is uncharacteristic low-key as the world-weary Prescott Roe. My only complaint is Dermot Mulroney who is miscast and unable to make his character's diction convincing.

One of the best. I've read the critics' reviews of Sam Shepard's directorial effort, hogwash. If you don't like what Shepard did in this one, you've missed the point of the movie. You can't roller-skate in a buffalo herd! There are two tragedies to this film: one, it has gone so unnoticed as a whole; two, Sheila Tousey has gone so unnoticed. I believe this is the greatest Native American actress. Couple this with Mr. Bates, Harris, Mulroney, Pheonix, Shepard and Ms. Arredondo, and it was a loser in any way??????

In a tribute, a Rolling Stone reviewer suggested this was the quintessential River Phoenix movie. I disagree, he gives a much better performance in 'My Own Private Idaho' but this story is better written. It's not really a western, though it is set in that time and place we nostalgically yearn for, with stark wide open spaces in hues of tan and brown. There's lots of dust and horses and broken people trying to mend their fragile lives. There's even a snake oil salesman and his son, complete with sideshow and assorted freaks. Richard Harris plays a father who loves his son (Phoenix) so much that he will purchase a wife for his sad and lonely child, but when she dies in childbirth, why not purchase her twin sister from the shifty, snake oil hawker who fathered them? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Phoenix broods over the body of his lost love wrapping her in hides and suspending her body in a dead tree. He will not let her go and her spirit doesn't want to stay. Her soul visits him in visions that become so real to him that he almost shoots himself. He can't or won't do it, to join her would be love, to hold on to her is pure selfishness. Her twin sister knows that the dead are powerful and she agrees to help Harris break the hold his son has on her sister, but then she's outta there. Conceived in rape, she knows that she is a double second class citizen. One, she's a woman, and two she's half white and half native. She has nothing but her wits and a dark opportunity to free herself from her father and his mad schemes. She'll take four horses for her trouble and the hope for a new life. (Even the female actresses, who deliver wonderful performances, are overshadowed by their male co-stars in the marketing of this film.)
Although told like a ghost story, this is really a love story about a father's love for his son. Harris will do anything for his child, even fight the apparition of his former daughter-in-law that appears in the form of a wolf. Steeped in native mythology and mysticism this story speaks of ties we create between those we love and those we use. In contrast, the snake oil vendor sees his daughters as commodities. The only love that exited for these lost, little girls was their mother, Silent Tongue, who couldn't even cry out when she was raped by their father. Another victim of his entrepreneurial father, is the twin's half brother, who insists on setting out after his half sister is abducted by Harris, and dragging his father along to do the 'right thing' and rescue her. The entire cast give strong and beautiful performances. It's a crime this is not available in wide screen because the melancholy landscape, is itself, a character in this tale. The film is rife with metaphor and if you want to think and be entertained this is the journey you'll want to take between real love and what poses for the love between us. Even though it is offered in a full screen format it is a good value for the prices that it is offered at. For those who prefer to have nonviolent fare, there are a few scenes including the rape that are inappropriate or upsetting. Overall I didn't know what to expect, but I was surprised and pleased by this complex study of relationships that transcend time and place.

Regional encoding is a sly device. People in the U.S., for instance, who want to see Sam Shepard's 1994 film 'Silent Tongue' will have to watch this bottom-of-the-barrel, pan-and-scan frisbee thrown out by Lions Gate. Meanwhile, folks in Germany have a decent 2.35:1 transfer with Region 2 encoding, which excludes most interested U.S. consumers.

Lions Gate. These folks are getting worse, more brazen in their lack of integrity. I mean, consider their cynical chop-and-dub job on the new release 'High Tension,' or their heavy promotion and wide distribution of garbage like 'House of 1000 Corpses' and 'Confidence' and simultaneous neglect of acclaimed films like 'Stevie' and 'May.'

The expense associated with giving consumers a 2.35:1 transfer is only marginally above that of a 1.33:1 transfer. The Lions Gate people are clearly bottom-line bean-counters who we must all hope will go bankrupt and disappear into a pile of ashes, if there's any justice in the world. Lot 47, Cowboy Pictures... it's the good guys who usually die, while rotters like Lions Gate live on with an undeserved longevity.

As a true fan of River Phoenix I approach any film he's done with an incredibly open mind - maybe moreso than I should. Silent Tongue is a beautifully scripted and written Western revolving around a young man's loss of a loved one. Phoenix actually has only a dozen or so lines - with his silence though, he speaks volumes. His absorbtion of this character is flawless and eerily truthful. Richard Harris is wonderful here as in everything he does. His part is also not very wordy. In fact much of the film is wihtout dialogue. This creates a wonderful sense of the isolation of that era. It also allows the characters to be explored introspectively and with great depth. The true test of an actor is if he can embody the character with no lines; existing solely with his very being. Here River shows sheer perfection; conveying painfully his character's torment with only his body and his eyes!
However, this is where my praise for the film stops. Though it must have been an amazingly beautiful story to read, much was lost in translating it to film. Dermot Mulrooney has a large role. He botches it masterfully by grunting/shouting all his lines as though trying to reach predominately deaf people in the back row of a Theater he's not in. The effect is that none of what he says sounds honest, but more like a experimental, high school drama class failure. This is sad because in every other film I've seen him, he does a solid acting job worthy of much notice. There are also several scenes which are unnecessarily drawn out and campy. And as someone who loves the 1956 classic "Giant" which runs 3 1/2 hours, it takes a lot for me to call any scene in a Western drawn out.
Sam Shephard, Writer and Director of Silent Tongue, has produced dozens of brilliant plays etc. But to bring this story to life on film would have required much more attention to Cinematic effect than was given. Some things can captivate one reading a script, but simply don't hold up on the 'silver screen'. Even as an "artsy" film [A genre` which I LOVE], this doesn't quite achieve the goal. Nonetheless, one walks away from this film moved and touched - not only by River's brilliance, but also in realizing the magnitude of the story and message that must have inspired this film. And so even with its absurd moments and unfortunately wretched performance by Mulrooney, this is still a film I recommend for some. For Richard Harris and River Phoenix's performances more than make it worth a look.

A young man (River Phoenix) is grief-stricken by the death of his Indian wife. So much so that he guards over her corpse in the middle of the desert, with nothing but a rifle and his sanity. His father (Richard Harris) decides that in order to save his son, he must bring along the dead wife's sister and have them marry.

This was Phoenix's last film before his untimely death, and even though this Western drama doesn't really hold up today, it still has some nice qualities attached to it. First off, Silent Tongue does have a mystical, almost hypnotic look. It's filled with beautiful shots of the silent wasteland surrounding the characters. I was captivated by how the desert looked in the film. Plus, there was also some lovely divine music, that adds to the ambiance of the film's atmosphere (even if it does have that relatively corny 80's sound). The dialogue is very well-written, and its apparent simplicity seems appropriate for a quiet period Western such as this one. Unfortunately, there could have been improvements made for the plot, which is slightly convoluted and just downright strange. It's sometimes hard to follow, especially in the second half of the film when the spirit of the dead Indian wife becomes a major importance. I guess the screenplay is to blame, because it isn't very strong. There are so many questions that are unanswered. I know it's up for the viewer to decided what just happened (and what WILL happen), but the creators of this film seemed to have succeeded a bit too well. And Alan Bates.....well, let's just say that his performance is over-the-top. He's sometimes hard to understand due to his thick Irish accent, and his personality sometimes confuses the overall tone of the rest of the film.

Still, Silent Tongue is a good-looking Western, with a very hypnotic feeling attached to it. If you're looking for wall-to-wall action, then you better look somewhere else. This Western relies on dialogue, drama, and mysticism. There are good performances all-around, especially Phoenix and Harris, and the music is very nice. I just wish that the story itself would have been done better than what's here on the finished product.

Grade: C+

this is great work,the story line alone is 5 stars all the actors male/female are extremely good.veiw this asap

There is no question that, as always, River gives an excellent performance -I saw this movie many years ago - shortly after River's devastating death. Dramatic, strange, and painful... the ending told a story we now look at with more sadness than the story told on the screen... A seemingly strange but fitting roll for River, his dark performance kept me spellbound the entire movie, and I have come to think of it often as time goes on. If you feast on drama, are not afraid of the dark... and, of course, if you are in any way a fan of the beloved and painfully missed Rio, you must see this movie. The darkness of this movie reflects the tounge that is forever silent now... "I will walk alone by the black muddy River...sing me a song of my own"

Well this was the last film I saw with River. It didn`t come 2 Norway until the summer of 1997. Luckily for me - I wasn`t dissapointed; It was a non streamlined Western signed by the gifted Sam Shepard and Star Performances from cast 2 crew. River Phoenix in a supporting role - really - but his talent and presence intact. Thank U God that we had a young actor who chose his roles with care and integrity. U always seem 2 learn by watching River`s movies. He is deeply missed.

This movie had a simple, easy to follow plot...but I'll have to say I nodded off a few times! River Phoenix did an ok job and Richard Harris was notable, but the overall plot of the movie just simply blew chunks! When the ending arrives you're thinking to yourself...that's it! Not worth buying but definitely worth seeing...after all...all movies are worth seeing whether they're termed good or bad.