Cœur de tonnerre

Maybe it's because this film followed in the shadow of "Dances With Wolves"-- or maybe it just wasn't marketed well-- but it's beyond me and all those I know who have seen it why this movie didn't do better in the theatres.

All the pieces are there: great actors (and acting), amazing characters, excellent cinematography, a believable, engrossing, and simply wonderful storyline, mystery, suspense, comedy. I did not want this movie to end! A well loved movie by many. Rent it now.

What's with the low rating for this film? Thunderheart is a superb thriller about Native American Indians. It's well-acted, well-paced, and we get a great sense of tension and high stakes throughout the film. Remaining respectful to the indians, but not getting syrupy or over-glorifying it, it's quite educational about culture. I found it to be intellectual as well as a good trip. And a great job by Val Kilmer.

Who should see this film:

-- action/thriller types

-- drama types with an interest in Native American Indians

I'll give "Thunderheart" a well-deserved 8 out of 10.

Many have dismissed this film as 'too Hollywood' or fictionalized. Many don't understand just what went on in 'The Incident at Oglala'. Others wonder why it was so under-promoted. The US Government doesn't want anything promoted that shows their VERY dark side. Many US citizens do not know, do not want to know, or refuse to believe that their government does the exact same things that we chastise other governments for. I'm Native American myself (Cherokee/Powhattan), a tribal volunteer, and a Native Activist. The FBI has a file on me. My phone is tapped. This is what happens when you're involved in activities that reveal what your government is really up to. Yes, it is a 'fictionalized' account, but if you're familiar with the story, you know that Fred Ward is former chairman Dick Wilson, who helped the US Government to draw attention away from the fact that he was selling off 1/8 of the Pine Ridge Reservation for uranium mining, without the rest of the people knowing. Jimmy Looks Twice is vaguely based on Leonard Peltier (though I don't think anyone has claimed Leonard could shapeshift), and Maggie Eagle Bear is an excellent description of Anna Mae Aquash, who was murdered--the FBI tried to have her illegally buried under an assumed name, then just as Jane Doe, and because she had distinctive jewelry on her hands that couldn't be removed due to post-mortem swelling, they CUT OFF HER HANDS...sent them off allegedly for 'fingerprinting', and what do you know? They got lost. The book by Peter Mathiessen, "In the Spirit Of Crazy Horse" was kept from publishment for 8 years by the government who did not want the story out. Some of my fave lines? Cooch's "ARM is on it's last legs, Ray..." And Crowhorse's reaction to Ray's threat about withholding information, "So sue (Sioux) me..." And the scenery is so stark and beautiful. I cry every time I watch it. Fast action shoot-em-ups despite a yard full of kids? It happened. That's not Hollywood. The FBI was shooting up an 'encampment' full of women and kids at Oglala. They don't care. The only good Indian is a dead Indian. It's been this way for 500 years, and it continues today.

Ray Levoi (Val Kilmer) is an FBI agent with some Sioux ancestry. William Dawes (Fred Dalton Thompson) sends him to investigate murders on tribal land in the badlands of South Dakota with veteran agent Frank 'Cooch' Coutelle (Sam Shepard). There is civil conflict from the radical Aboriginal Rights Movement and they are the prime suspect. Walter Crow Horse (Graham Greene) is local tribal police. Tribal president Jack Milton (Fred Ward) and his thugs are hunting for members of ARM. Levoi is forced to reawaken his native roots.

This has a bit of a thriller element but mostly, it has a nice take on modern native cultural troubles. Val Kilmer is a bit too white to play a mix-race character. On the other hand, there are great native actors. Director Michael Apted is able to be sensitive to real native culture without talking down to it.

There's been a murder on a Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota and it's connected to reservation politics. Assistant FBI director Fred Dalton Thompson thinks it would be a good idea to specifically assign an agent with an Indian and specifically a Sioux heritage to investigate the homicide, figuring that the insular Sioux might better cooperate with him. Agent Val Kilmer fills the bill and he's assigned to one of the bureau's top operatives Sam Sheppard who reluctantly takes him along. Even Sheppard who's a loner sees that Kilmer just might be useful here.

To say that there is more on this reservation than meets the eye is putting it mildly. And Kilmer finds he has a destiny here and he does in fact solve the case with the help of reservation cop Graham Greene.

When referring to Indians in the USA their various tribes are called this or that nation. Calling them a nation as far as Thunderheart is concerned is correct in more ways than one. The reservations have their own autonomy in a lot of things, but they are also covered under the Constitution of these United States although you wouldn't think so the way tribal chief Fred Ward runs things. In fact the scenes of his reservation police disregarding basic fundamental rights could come out of some third world nation. That is the scariest part of Thunderheart and the part you will remember best.

There's not just murder here, there's corruption on a grand scale and that is the destiny that Val Kilmer has in this film, to root it out and expose it. Just what is going on and who is involved you have to watch Thunderheart for.

Although this is a part Lou Diamond Phillips should have played, Val Kilmer does fine in the lead. Another memorable role is that of Sheila Tousey, schoolteacher and Indian activist who has a good idea of what's going on and makes no bones to Kilmer about where his loyalties should lie.

Sam Sheppard's role as an FBI agent is one that never would have seen the light of day if J. Edgar Hoover was alive. You'll see what I mean when you watch Thunderheart.

Thunderheart is a fine drama, nicely photographed on location with fine performances uniformly from the cast. We can only hope that tribal leaders like Fred Ward are some kind of aberration among the American Indians.