O Último Grande Guerreiro

While it is true that this story is not historically accurate, I have to say, in this case, part of the story is better than no story. It is refreshing, even for a Disney film, to see such stories brought to film for anyone to watch. It is worth the effort of watching. For myself, the story provided an introduction to the life story of Squanto.

This, in turn, raised my curiosity. This led me to look him up and learn more of his life. Again, this is a good place to begin to learn of the life of Squanto--a real person and an important person--in the course of the American Experience. What you learn following viewing this film is up to you. Disney, however, provides a good introduction to Squanto.

In the Seventeenth Century, a group of British sailors lure the Patuxet tribe in the New World and kidnap an Indian called Squanto (Adam Beach) together with Epenow (Eric Schweig) from Nauset tribe. They are brought to England to become attraction of a circus, but Squanto succeeds to escape in a row boat that sinks. Squanto is found by monks and brought to the monastery where he learns English and white man behavior. Squanto misses his beloved wife Nakooma and when he has a chance, he returns to the New World with Epenow. But he discovers that his world is no longer the same.

"Squanto: A Warrior's Tale" is an entertaining adventure by Disney, with the full of action story of an Indian named Squanto and his adventure in England. The plot is a typical production by Disney and with no relation with historic events and the purpose is to entertain... and "Squanto: A Warrior's Tale" succeeds. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Último Grande Guerreiro" (The Last Great Warrior")

As a history buff and a published writer in that subject, I was distressed to see how the film's storyline warped the real history of Squanto, especially in how he was treated by his English hosts, which was mostly cordial by all accounts, during the many years he actually lived on the other side of the Pond (and should have gotten Frequent Sailor Miles for all those trips he made back and forth over the Atlantic.) But it does show he learned the lessons of the Christian virtues taught him by the Franciscan monks and others who befriended him during that time, and more important, he passed them on to his Indian brethren so that they might live in harmony with their new neighbors. Like two other films that were released about this same time, DANCES WITH WOLVES and LAST OF THE MOHICANS, it shows that people of differing cultures can work together to accomplish great things, even in the face of great hostility between the two sides by those not so enlightened. At the screening of this film last night at the Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church, we watched this tale unfold and found it to be a great way of remembering why we celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S.A. History teaches us (or it did when most of us in the church's audience went to school)that Squanto played a huge part in ensuring the Pilgrims could grow enough food and hunt and fish well enough to survive the coming winter, a task he did so well that it enabled the Pilgrims and their Indian neighbors to partake in a feast that continues as a tradition in America almost four centuries later. But this film carries a message beyond our traditional rationale for having a uniquely American holiday set apart to give thanks to God for providing bounty and blessings to all Americans in this land.That mostly overlooked message that many of us don't see today but that Squanto recognized is that peace and brotherhood and charity must be practiced if we are to survive and prosper in this world.

In a year (1994) when the Disney Studios released so many entertaining films (IRON WILL, THE LION KING, THE JUNGLE BOOK, THE SANTA CLAUSE, ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, D2-MIGHTY DUCKS,) this stood out as a real gem of a movie that still entertains and inspires us today. I think Walt Disney would have been proud to have put his name on such a fine production by the motion picture company bearing his name. Thanks be to Walt, thanks be to Squanto and thanks, most of all, to God. Happy Thanksgiving. Dale Roloff

Squanto is based on real character , the Native Indian Squanto , he was a member of the Patuxet tribe best known for being an early líasion between the native populations in Southern New England and the Mayflower Pilgrims who made their settlements at the site of former summer Village. The Patuxet tribe lived on the western Coast of Cape Cod Bay where in 1614 Squanto : Adam Beach and Epenow : Eric Schweig, were abducted by Englishmen : Michael Gambon, Mark Margolis, and brought first to Spain and then England, where they lived for several years with merchants involved in a project to settle Newfoundland.Squanto eventually returned to his native Village only to find that his tribe had been wiped by Brit colonists and by an epidémic infection. In the film Squanto escapes from the mean merchants and takes shelter at a religious congregation formed by various Brothers, Paul , Timothy, James : Donnelly, Stuard Pankin, led by Brother Daniel : Mandy Patinkin.

Main starring as Adam Beach gives a nice acting as Squanto along with his pal Eric Schweig. Support cast is pretty good , such as Michael Gambon , Nathaniel Parker, Mark Margolis, Mandy Patinkin, and Irene Bedard as Squanto's wife. It displays an atmospheric and colorful cinematography by Robbie GreenBerg. Evocative and moving musical score by Joel McNeely.The motion picture was professionally directed by Xavier Koller.

The movie is a fiction but inspired by actual events , as when the Mayflower landed in 1620 Squanto worked to bróker peaceable relationships between the Pilgrims and the local natives. He played a key role in the early meetings in March 1621, partly he spoke English. He then lived with the Pilgrims for 20 months. He introduced the settlers to the fur trade and taught them how to sow and fertilize native crops. As food shortages increased Colony Governor BradFord relied on Squanto to pilot a ship of settlers on a trading expedition around Cape Cod.During that voyage, he had What BradFord called an Indian Fever. Bradford stayed with him for several days until he died which Bradford described as a great loss.Considerable mythology and legend has grown up around Squanto over time, largely because of early praises and owing to the central role that the Thanksgiving festival of 1621 plays in American folk history.He was less the Noble Savage that Later myth portrayed him and more a practical advisor and a dependable local diplomat.

This is not a documentary so I can forgive the time-line inaccuracies. But it does tell a story that is based, at least in part, on a real human being, brave, intelligent, life-loving. To have suffered the loss of dignity through kidnap and slavery and then, when finally returned home, the additional heartache of the fate of not only his family but of his entire tribe, he continued to give of himself, no matter the purpose of his generosity. This movie may not teach history correctly (although it at least tries to include the people who most influenced Squanto), but it DOES teach children values... the value of treating people with dignity; the value of freedom; the value of humanity; that slavery is wrong; that war, even if necessary, is a "last resort." For teaching these things alone I recommend this movie.