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Okay, I’m definitely not a reviewer or much of a writer either for that matter… but I felt a need to say something about this one so please bear with me…
Directed by Chris Eyre
Written by Jennifer D. Lyne
Based on the novel by Adrian C. Louis
Mogie Yellow Lodge: Graham Greene
Rudy Yellow Lodge: Eric Schweig
After hearing quiet a bit about Skins, I finally had a chance to watch this movie and was completely blown away...
Skins tells the story of two Oglala Sioux brothers living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota… The youngest, Rudy (Eric Schweig), is a Tribal Police Officer beginning to feel the effects of a never-ending battle against crime and alcoholism on the Reservation… and the eldest, Mogie (Graham Greene), traumatized by a brutal tour of duty in Viet Nam (where he earned three Purple Hearts), spends his days drinking and getting into mischief whenever the opportunity arises… which is the majority of the time and only adds to the frustration his brother feels toward the horrors he combats daily as part cop - part social worker… I don’t want to give too much away, but when Rudy discovers a youth senselessly beaten to death, his frustration gives way to a rage that only leads to tragic consequences…
Although the main focus of this film is on the relationship between the brothers, there is much more going on here… Historically, resting in the shadows of Mt. Rushmore, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the largest tract of land set aside by the US Government for use by Native Americans… but it is also the poorest community in the US with an average family income of 3,700 per year… unemployment rates 80% above average… crime and substance abuse 9 times above average… life expectancy 20 years below average… and the highest infant mortality rate in the US… Filmed entirely on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Chris Eyre does a wonderful job touching on the majority of those problems in a matter-of-fact way that never once asks for pity… only awareness…
Skins screened in June 2002 in New York City as part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival co-presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Human Rights Watch.
Directed by Chris Eyre
Written by Jennifer D. Lyne
Based on the novel by Adrian C. Louis
Mogie Yellow Lodge: Graham Greene
Rudy Yellow Lodge: Eric Schweig
After hearing quiet a bit about Skins, I finally had a chance to watch this movie and was completely blown away...
Skins tells the story of two Oglala Sioux brothers living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota… The youngest, Rudy (Eric Schweig), is a Tribal Police Officer beginning to feel the effects of a never-ending battle against crime and alcoholism on the Reservation… and the eldest, Mogie (Graham Greene), traumatized by a brutal tour of duty in Viet Nam (where he earned three Purple Hearts), spends his days drinking and getting into mischief whenever the opportunity arises… which is the majority of the time and only adds to the frustration his brother feels toward the horrors he combats daily as part cop - part social worker… I don’t want to give too much away, but when Rudy discovers a youth senselessly beaten to death, his frustration gives way to a rage that only leads to tragic consequences…
Although the main focus of this film is on the relationship between the brothers, there is much more going on here… Historically, resting in the shadows of Mt. Rushmore, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the largest tract of land set aside by the US Government for use by Native Americans… but it is also the poorest community in the US with an average family income of 3,700 per year… unemployment rates 80% above average… crime and substance abuse 9 times above average… life expectancy 20 years below average… and the highest infant mortality rate in the US… Filmed entirely on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Chris Eyre does a wonderful job touching on the majority of those problems in a matter-of-fact way that never once asks for pity… only awareness…
Skins screened in June 2002 in New York City as part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival co-presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Human Rights Watch.