Indian Horse
Indian Horse is a film about the life of Ojibway hockey star Saul, which tells the story of his turbulent journey from boy to man. It also deals with Canada's history of mistreating its Indigenous people, including the residential schools policy that displaced over 150,000 Indigenous children from their families and forced them to adopt white culture.
Residential schools
The film Indian Horse explores the horrors of residential schools from the perspective of a six-year-old Ojibwe boy. A major part of the movie centers on the character Saul, a young boy whose culture and language were systematically destroyed. The film is based on a novel by Richard Wagamese. It explores the impact of residential schools and the blatant failure of Canada's white majority. The film is made on a shoestring budget and is a tribute to the inner strength of one survivor.
The film challenges Canadians to confront the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools and to work toward ending anti-Indigenous racism and establishing meaningful relationships with indigenous peoples. This is an important message for history buffs, as well as for those who wish to foster better relations between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.
Hockey
If "Halloween" was a sports movie, it would be "Indian Horse." The film is a coming-of-age story about an Ojibway hockey player named Saul. It chronicles his turbulent journey from boy to man, and also explores the history of residential schools for indigenous youth in Canada. These schools were places where children were taken from their families and forced to conform to the white culture.
"Indian Horse" is a complex and difficult movie to watch. While the hockey storyline is fun, the story is about the lingering effects of colonial tyranny and racism against Indigenous people. The movie portrays a lifelong struggle of a Native man to overcome racial discrimination. The movie shows how these experiences affect the lives of Indigenous people, and how these histories can be changed for a better future.
Stephen S. Campanelli
"Indian Horse" is a powerful, compelling coming-of-age story that chronicles the legacy of residential schools for indigenous people. It's about a boy named Saul who escapes from his school by relying on his hockey skills to join a local hockey team. He ends up at a residential Christian school, where he learns the harsh realities of abuse and neglect by religious extremists.
Stephen S. Campanelli is a director who grew up a fan of Clint Eastwood. He named his dog Clint after the actor, and he dreamed of one day meeting him. A few years later, he became the hottest Steadicam operator in the industry, and Eastwood encouraged him to direct Indian Horse. He even went so far as to watch the film last spring.
