Where the Spirit Lives

After seeing this film, I am appalled at how the nuns and priests treated all the Native kids in the past in the residential schools!! What I saw in this film was nothing compared to what happened in real life with kids who were forced to attend these "schools". Of course, I've never attended one so I obviously don't know what went on but after hearing the different horror stories by different Natives on TV, in books, newspapers, etc, I imagine that it was a lot worse for those kids who only wanted to be left alone with their families. The system just didn't care one bit about these kids or the families! All the schools ever did was take the kids away from them and their cultural identities!! Big mistake!! Well......... I'm sorry to say this but although the Church thought they were doing the right thing at the time, it was outright wrong!! Even if the Church apologized for their actions towards all the Native kids who used to attend these "schools", it will never erase the damage that has been done! It had occurred for way too long and too deep.

But............... anyways............... this is why I gave this film a 6 out of 10.

Canadian cinema has left an indelible mark on films about Aboriginal people and films about life on the Prairies during the Great Depression. In the film "Where the Spirit Lives", these two areas meet. As of this writing, the imdb users have given this film a 9/10 rating and with valid cause. The storyline is strong yet ultimately predictable. The movie's main force comes with the contrast between the utopic world of the Aboriginal life on the reservation/trapline and the much dystopic world of the white man/Catholic residential school. The film begins with the heroine Komi enjoying an innocent, culturally rich,nearly paradisal life outdoors. The viewer is made to recall this opening scene when the antagonist Reverend Buckley(played to menacing perfection by David Hemblen) gives this line which seems to support the Catholic church's theory at the time: "These children come to us from a dead culture; it's like a millstone around their necks; our job is to remove this terrible burden and give them their freedom". Later, Reverend Buckley uses the analogy of knocking the old soil from a plant's roots to help it grow. These ironic lines help him justify taking these, as he calls them, "little brown children of the prairie" from their families and way of life and forcing them to learn the white ways. Another nice poetic touch from the film is when Rachel, a young student who was sexual abused by a FEMALE matron(another nice detour from the cliche)escapes to witness her people's Sun Dance ceremony where she can "Touch the sun and become a star". Rachel's subplot helps to reinforce both that their culture is anything but "Dead" and that life in the whiteman world is not a desirable as the priests and leaders at the school would like to think. Rachel's attempt to retain her culture's Sun Dance ritual is inspired by the heroine Komi's refusal to give up her Indian name, her language, her smudging(smoke and prayer)ritual, her rite of passage to womanhood, and mainly her contact with her family. Another nice ironic/symbolic contrast is the snippet of a hymn the children sing at the school: "All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God loves them all". This seems to neatly sum up the sentiment of the fimmakers. Yes, the Lord loves all people; it's too bad some of HIS PEOPLE don't. This is the prototype film on Residential Schools and it has everything a classic film on Aboriginal people should have including music by Buffy Sainte Marie and an appearance by actor Graham Greene.

I have seen this movie many times. It never gets easier to watch. Historically the attitude towards educating the "heathens" is very close to policy (read Maureen Lux "Medicine that Walks"). As for the portrayal of the students, the abuse was pretty tame. If they actually showed what happened at the worst schools it never would have made it to production and could be classified as a snuff film. I've met people who've been in residential schools and are now in their late 70s and early 80s, one old lady never hugged her children for fear she'd be passing on sexual abuse. For the amount of awful events there were still some teachers that tried to make a positive impact on the lives of their students like we see in the film. Overall I'd recommend it for people as a starting point for research in the area. In one of the previous comments I read about "looking for a handle to get out of a plane", however if you don't know what a plane is and have never been in one that would be irrelevant. Michelle St. John is a good actress. She was also good in "conspiracy of silence" which I also recommend.

My Father is a Micmac and so am I. I'm 16 now and when i first saw this movie it was the early 90s. i must have been about 4 or 5 years old. The movie is based on Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia, Canada. My father was in that school for 6 years, longer then other people who where there. My dad isn't fixated on what happened while he was at that school, unlike other people. Some people that went to shubie school for 6 months talk about all that bad things that happened to them like they were there for 10 years. You'd never even know that my dad went there. When he does talk about shubie school it's not about the horrors of what went on, it's mainly good things like how the kids there used their slices of bread like money or how if you touched someone else food it became yours. That only bad thing he ever said about that school was that the food sucked so you had to eat it really fast. To this day he still eats his food fast, it doesn't even touch the plate and it's gone.

What i want to say is that i think this movie did an amazing job at portraying what went on behind the walls and that the Catholic church is messed up for thinking that they can "fix" everybody else to their standards. What happened in those schools is on some degree like what Catholic Priests molesting those children. For anyone who would really like to know more about Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, you should read "Out of The Depths" by Isabelle Knockwood. For rating i give this movie a 10 out of 10.

Movie review: Where the Spirit Lives

The movie, "Where The Spirit Lives" is centered around a young Indian girl whose name Amalia and brother by the name of Abraham, taken from their home and forced into a Christian school to learn English. At first, the two were defiant and unwilling to participate. They were however, fortunate enough to have a fresh teacher with morals and kindness still intact. This did not change for awhile and they tried escaping, but as soon as they learned their parents had gotten sick and past away, they had nothing left, which lead to the acceptance of a new life. Thing's went well and the English language was learned, and the little girl was even going to be adapted by an upscale older woman. Until, they found out their parents were still alive and looking for them, and the church had lied to them. Finally, the time was right and the two left for home with the blessing of their teacher.

It's sad to think that the United States was actually ran like this. To force young children into learning English, instead of accepting their own culture and language. Their is plenty of communication that can happen without forcing the whole tribe to convert to the "American way of life." This was a good film that centered on those who were afflicted the most, the children. It depicts the religious attitude and way of thinking through the school where they attended and the faculty that supported the movement. It also gives you a look at the harsh conditions, with the beatings and solitary confinement, the children had to endure. These force full actions did seem to work with some of the children, but there was defiantly a tipping point.

I would recommend watching this movie to those who are curious about the harsh realities of our government and how they used to treat people, even indigenous people, who would not conform to the English culture. There is conflict, some drama, and a little bit of action tied into this movie throughout. It's an interesting film that dose not really have any drag. Just a well thought out and entertaining movie.