Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Yves Simoneau

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Giat (teleplay)
Dee Brown (book)

Release Date:

27 May 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Western

Tagline:

The Epic Fall of the American Indian

Plot:

A chronicle of how American Indians were displaced as the U.S. expanded west. Based on the book by Dee Brown.

Plot Keywords:

General | Senator | Government | Sitting Bull | Assimilation

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 20 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Anna Paquin	...	Elaine Goodale
Chevez Ezaneh	...	Ohiyesa / Young Charles
August Schellenberg	...	Sitting Bull
Duane Howard	...	Uncle
Aidan Quinn	...	Henry Dawes
Colm Feore	...	General Sherman
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	President Ulysses S. Grant (as Fred Thompson)
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse	...	One Bull (as Nathan Chasing Horse)
Wayne Charles Baker	...	Jacob
Brian Stollery	...	Bishop Whipple
Shaun Johnston	...	Col. Nelson Miles
Gordon Tootoosis	...	Chief Red Cloud
Billy Merasty	...	Young Man Afraid
Morris Birdyellowhead	...	American Horse
Eddie Spears	...	Chasing Crane

Also Known As:

Untitled Wounded Knee Project (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

HBO Films

Trivia:

Originally began development in 1995 as a two-part miniseries for ABC.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Charles Eastman is sitting on the floor, you can clearly see that the soles of his boots are made of man made material with a modern tread design, not the smooth leather soles you would expect to see in the nineteenth century.

Quotes:

Henry Dawes: We cannot allow a return to incivility.
Charles Eastman: Incivility? And what has civility earned them, might I ask? Trained nurses? Even one hospital?
Henry Dawes: All things the Sioux will provide for themselves, Charles, once this plan has passed. As you yourself agreed - they must adapt.
Charles Eastman: Must they adapt, sir, to the point of their own extermination?
Henry Dawes: Extermination? I suppose you say we've exterminated your Indian heritage rather than provided to you the benefits of an entire civilization?
Charles Eastman: Senator, please sit. Sir, if every individual were taken personally under your care, as was my good fortune, I admit, the outcome might be what you seek. But I am not the example you held up to The Friends of the Indian. I am the example of nothing. I simply do not see how placing each Indian man on a desolate, 160-acre parcel of land is going to lead his children to medical school.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Happy Times

Look, we need to own up to what we did to the Indians.

Does "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" go overboard on trying to humanize its subjects (or making them palatable to a TV audience)? Whether or not it does is beside the point. The point here is that we white people have to own up to our genocide against the Indians and theft of their land. Even if it takes a less-than-masterful movie like this one, something needs to remind us of that. The movie focuses specifically on a Sioux (Adam Beach) who takes the name Charles Eastman and studies medicine, but upon seeing what the white people's westward expansion does to his people tries to get Sen. Henry Dawes (Aidan Quinn) to listen.

I recommend it just because it shows what happened to the Indians. I repeat: we white people need to admit what we did and start atoning for it. Also starring J.K. Simmons, Wes Studi, August Schellenberg and Anna Paquin.