By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Sterlin Harjo
Starring: Cody Lightning | Jeri Arredondo | Laura Bailey | Tamara Podemski
Country: united_states
Year: 2007
Running time: 81
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893331/
Chris says: “Sterlin Harjo’s first feature arrives nearly a decade after SMOKE SIGNALS promised a wave of Native American cinema that never really amounted to much. It’s another coming-of-age, leaving-the-Reservation tale, this time set and filmed in Oklahoma. The main character, Cufe (Cody Lightning) has just buried his father who had committed suicide. After the funeral, Cufe visits Miri (Tamara Podemski), his estranged older sister, who moved away to Tulsa a few years back. Predictably, he discovers a whole new world in the big city, although he also learns more about the difficulty his sister has had distancing
herself from her past.
“Developed at the Sundance labs, this strikes me as a prototypical Sundance film, particularly one from the days before the festival overflowed with big business and hype. It’s sweet, earnest, a little dull but honest. Lightning is an adequate if not all too charismatic lead. However, Podemski deservedly won an acting award at Sundance this year and Jeri Arredondo, who plays Cufe and Miri’s mother, is just as good. 3 cats
“FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival.”
Michael says: “During the pandemic, I really got back into watching movies, which has been great for my Chlotrudis totals, but also fun to watch older films — both classics, and just random films just for the heck of it. With FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND, I was specifically looking for something that revolved around the Indigenous American experience. Something that wouldn’t be so stereotypical perhaps and speak to life beyond the stories that we usually get. SHEETS fills that bill pretty well, including some familiar tropes — live on the reservation, which seems somewhat similar to life in any rural midwestern town, and the storytelling elder to name a couple. But it’s also a nice, gentle coming-of-age tale focused on Cufe, whose dad commits suicide just before the film starts, and his sister, Miri, has taken off to the west coast to have a life of her own. Cufe is a bit adrift since his father’s death, and after Miri shows up for the funeral and invites him to come visit her sometime, he takes her up on it.
“There he too is exposed to a life with possibilities that he hadn’t considered. He also finds that Miri hasn’t taken that well to this life, drinking heavily, and having trouble finding her path. It’s not an exceptionally surprising film, but it’s warm-hearted, funny, and feels pretty honest. I was rather charmed by Cody Lightning’s Cufe, and unlike Chris, found him to be fairly charismatic without being showy. There was a sensitivity to him that I responded to. Tamara Podemski does a good job with her wayward Miri, and I agree that Jeri Arrendondo is particularly strong as their mom. 3 1/2 cats”