Begrabt mein Herz am Wounded Knee

Very slow moving movie, which detracted greatly from the story it should have been telling. If you haven't read the book, or knew nothing of the history of this story, you would be completely lost.

The cast was great, and the acting was good. It is not the actors fault that the direction and editing was terrible. I had high hopes that the story telling would be straight forward, of a relatively well-documented event, based on the well known book.

The title is misleading; it is not Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, it is a small excerpt combined with some other story I was not familiar with. The ending of the movie is really mangled, combining color with black and white for dramatic effect, but it just doesn't work, especially when it never even shows the event depicted in the title.

Watch it for good acting, good music, great camera work, but don't expect to be educated, or entertained. The atrocities committed upon this Indian nation deserves a better rendition and remembrance, than presented here.

Does "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" go overboard on trying to humanize its subjects (or making them palatable to a TV audience)? Whether or not it does is beside the point. The point here is that we white people have to own up to our genocide against the Indians and theft of their land. Even if it takes a less-than-masterful movie like this one, something needs to remind us of that. The movie focuses specifically on a Sioux (Adam Beach) who takes the name Charles Eastman and studies medicine, but upon seeing what the white people's westward expansion does to his people tries to get Sen. Henry Dawes (Aidan Quinn) to listen.

I recommend it just because it shows what happened to the Indians. I repeat: we white people need to admit what we did and start atoning for it. Also starring J.K. Simmons, Wes Studi, August Schellenberg and Anna Paquin.

BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE is a somber retelling of the events leading up to the massacre at (what is now) the Wounded Knee Memorial. But this isn't a documentary. This is a made-for-TV fictional retelling, and it is the "made-for-TV" bit that makes this important American event lose some of its composure.

The entire production flags because of the TV aspect, many of the film shots losing their impact either because of lack of attention to detail or funds (or probably both). Either way this could've been an extreme visual recollection for most viewers but instead it lacks the depth I would've liked to have seen.

Regardless, there are some stellar appearances and acting within it. August Schellenberg as Sitting Bull undeniably has the most impact. Recent movie viewers will probably remember him from his portrayal as Powhatan in THE NEW WORLD. The contrast between the character in The New World and here in Wounded Knee shouldn't be lost, either. Without Powhatan and Pocahontas, the white settlers at Jamestown would've perished within the first few winters. And now, in Wounded Knee, it is the white man who destroys what is left of Native American life; a terribly stark (and bloody) reality.

The other notables are Adam Beach (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS) as Charles Eastman, and Aidan Quinn as Senator Henry Dawes. They spend a lot of time together on film and they played against/off each other exceptionally well. Charles being the "new wave" Indian who melds into the white man's way of life until exposed to reservation life at Pine Ridge. Henry Dawes seeing himself as "The Great White Savior Of The Indians" by passing legislation that loops a few nooses around the necks of the Plains Indians' way of life without even realizing it.

But other actors have little to offer. Anna Paquin (X-MEN) as Charles' white love interest (and eventual wife) is seen too infrequently so the relationship between the two has little impact. She does a good job of acting but the script stymied any possibility of real success. From here the acting dips into the drab and boring. I have to give mention to Senator Fred Thompson (currently a Republican runner for the U.S. Presidency) who plays President Ulysses S. Grant. We see maybe four frames of film with him in it and then he's gone. This surprised me greatly since it was Grant's administration that doomed Native Americans by rounding them up and placing them on reservations.

Despite my misgivings about the script, cinematography and acting, this is a vital story that needs to be told, and it isn't something that is normally taught in grade school or higher. Europeans (us) conquered this land and its people, and pushed them into holding pens where they, to this day, await justice for our multiple treaty violations and massacres of their men, women and children (I will say that the scenes depicting large-caliber rifle bullets ripping through young kids was filmed well and was equally hard to watch).

So the story gives this film a higher rating than anything within it, which is unfortunate, as this terrible moment in American history needs to be remembered just as much as Germany needs to remember its holocaust.

I have never read the entire book. But the movie, as far as I'm concerned is outstanding. I actually thought it was going to be nothing but gun touting action and a lot of fluff, but the movie does well in showing the accuracies in most of the accounts that happened or would have happened. The movie does a good job showing a more sympathetic side to some of the Americans who actually cared for the Indian's and their interests. But it was also true in showing the ignorance on both sides and lack of understanding what truly needs to be done to attain peace. Another good thing that I loved about this movie was that is showed a more internal/personal conflict with the characters, something rarely see in Indian based movies or historically ones at that. Overall it is an awesome movie that I think, if shown in some of my history classes, would make that subject a lot more interesting. Anyone waiting to see the John Adams movie?

It's no secret that movies mix a lot of fiction with the facts. This film seems to have rubbed both history buffs and fans of the book the wrong way, but I thought it was a compelling, evocative film nevertheless.

Starting off where most movies end, at a CGI created overhead shot of The Little Big Horn (!), this instead focuses on the final years of the Unions war against the Indian nations, culminating in the massacre at Wounded Knee.

There's a really great role for Adam Beach, as a young Souix doctor, who's father turned his back on the native ways and sent him to live amongst whites at a young age, stripping him of his identity.

August Schellenberg is excellent here as Sitting Bull, who's determination and pride stokes the anger of the powers that be, including Aiden Quinn, a sympathetic but patronizing Senator who has taken it upon himself to lead the Indians on a path to "civilization".

Anyone who watched the myriad Cavalry pictures and Little Big Horn epics should see this and find out how the whole sad story ends.