Skins

"Skins" is an unabashed low budget indie which tells a meager story about life on South Dakota's impoverished Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The film centers on an Indian cop/vigilante (Schweig) and his alcoholic Vietnam vet brother (Greene) and manages good character development, a semblance of story, humor, drama, and an obvious proactive Native American agenda. This austere production will be an average watch for most filmgoers while those with specific interest in Native American issues will find depth, substance, and resonance. (C+)

Note - Those interested in "Skins" might want to give "Thunderheart 1992" (also with Graham Greene) a look.

Chris Eyre is a genius. To be able to capture such poignant details of reservation life and convey it successfully to an audience is a work of art. His commitment to a quality product continues, as evidenced by his earlier movie SMOKE SIGNALS (1998).

Highly recommended. Solicit your local theaters to run this movie, as dissemination appears very limited. It will be well-worth your effort.

The story reflects reservation life as it is: sometimes laughter is the only means of survival the people have. It depicts the conditions as they are, not only on the Pine Ridge reservation but on most of them. Graham Greene has given an excellent performance as did Eric Schweig. The special sense of humor, often only understood by the Natives, does not take away any of the gravity of the plot.

Chris Eyre has once again managed to produce an excellent combination of the spiritual and the down-to-earth life in SKINS, and he has grown to become a synonym for true Native American films.

SKINS is both entertaining and causing the viewer, though mainly those familiar with reservation life, to think about the situation which has been persisting ever since Columbus.

SKINS has revived memories of my own stays at South Dakota reservations. The world needs more films like this one so that people will come to understand that the Natives of this land are not living in teepees anymore nor do they wear bunkskin and feathers all day long.

SKINS gives a critical and true reflection of life on a reservation in the twenty-first century.

The movie "Skins", directed by Chris Eyre, (FirstLook Pictures) 84 min. produced by Jon Kilik and starring Eric Schwieg and Graham Greene is a milestone and an accomplishment in films by Natives about Natives.

It is somewhat reminiscent of what "Once Were Warriors" meant to the Maori People of New Zealand. Pulling no punches, "Skins" uncovers the stark reality of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) of Pine Ridge reservation and their daily plight to survive in "Third World" conditions.

Eric Schwieg gives a command performance as

Rudy Yellow Lodge, a BIA cop with an older brother, Mogie, (played by Graham Greene)who is a Viet Nam vet and a chronic alcoholic. The film also brings to light the important issue of how white border towns (in this case White Clay, Nebraska) prey upon reservations and profit from Native Peoples miseries by selling alcohol. Graham Greene gives a five-star performance and humanizes a character most people would write off as simply a drunk, while also bringing to light the fact that there are many Native Veterans of Viet Nam War in this country, a fact most Americans probably don't consider. The film reflects the reality of violence and despair on the reservation, yet keeps you laughing with wit & humor interwoven throughout a well written script. (When you are Indian, sometimes things get so bad that a good joke is the only thing that you have left.)

While Rudy struggles with his job as a cop, a girlfriend who's still married, an alcoholic brother and his own spiritualty, he still has time to be a father figure to his brother Mogie's son, Herbie. Although the stress of his job leads him into being a vigilante when the murder of a young boy goes unsolved and ignored by the FBI, Rudy reaches inside himself and finds a balance through prayer, ceremonies & family. Without revealing too much about the film, I must comment that this is the first film ever to show a Lakota wake as it really is.(I know, because I have been to many of them) The film is in many aspects as close to real as a film could get about the situation on Pine Ridge reservation. Eyre recieved a standing ovation at the premiere at Eccles Theatre in Park City at the Sundance Film Festival. (Which incidentally was attended by Mr. Robert Redford, himself, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the film!) Congrats to Chris Eyre, the entire cast & crew!

I think this is an exceptional film, with some fine acting. The acting for the most part is underplayed and complicated by some more subtle nuances than many of us are used to seeing. The characters do not woodenly represent good or evil; they often give many mixed messages, and intentions might be good but are provocative to others as well as the audience in the actions shown. Some of the characters are very clear, and quietly and sensitively played. These are not the typical "noble savages" who crowd some Hollywood portrayals; they represent real and suffering people who, each in his or her own way, struggle with inner demons and addictions, like the rest of us, and for the most part try to do the right thing. The characters portrayed who don't seem to care about doing the "right" thing, or care about the rights of others, seem like they are possessed by hopelessness in their destructive actions. They feel trapped in a bleak and seemingly hopeless environment; this is a third-world cultural inside of our very materialistic, greedy American society. The unusual sense of humor, and enduring familial love, and attention to Native American spiritual practices, that come through despite every obstacle, violence, and frustration are the keys here. This film has a different, but intense, cultural point of view that we might be unfamiliar with, but that makes it stark and compelling. The director's commentary and extra features on the DVD are worth listening to/watching as well.