It is a coming-of-age story of a First Nations boy from age six through his residential school experience, efforts to become a professional hockey player, and struggle to overcome his memories. It's based on the 2012 novel by Richard Wagamese.
Saul Indian Horse (Sladen Peltier, Forrest Goodluck, Ajuawak Kapashesit) tries to escape from being sent to residential school but is seized after his grandmother dies. We see many glimpses of life at the school, some of them quite horrific. Father Gaston (Michiel Huisman) provides an outlet for Saul to play hockey. Saul's natural ability allows him to escape to a certain extent, especially when he is allowed to leave the residential school and star for an indigenous team in his mid-teens. While there, he lives with Fred Kelly's (Michael Lawenchuk) indigenous family. However, even here, Saul's experiences are decidedly mixed and become worse when he joins the Toronto Monarchs, a feeder team for the Maple Leafs. He crashes and becomes an alcoholic as he remembers some of the tragic events in his life. A sliver of hope appears when he returns to the Kelly family.
I was deeply moved by the novel when I read it. I wish this movie could have been so much better. It tries to cover so much territory that it jumps quickly from incident to incident. No one but Saul's character is developed enough to have depth, with the possible exception of Grandma (Edna Manitowabi). And the film is unrelentingly dark, with only a minor flicker of hope at the end. The narrative style with the adult Saul voice is also not as effective as it could have been.
It is powerful, but it could have been more.
Saul Indian Horse (Sladen Peltier, Forrest Goodluck, Ajuawak Kapashesit) tries to escape from being sent to residential school but is seized after his grandmother dies. We see many glimpses of life at the school, some of them quite horrific. Father Gaston (Michiel Huisman) provides an outlet for Saul to play hockey. Saul's natural ability allows him to escape to a certain extent, especially when he is allowed to leave the residential school and star for an indigenous team in his mid-teens. While there, he lives with Fred Kelly's (Michael Lawenchuk) indigenous family. However, even here, Saul's experiences are decidedly mixed and become worse when he joins the Toronto Monarchs, a feeder team for the Maple Leafs. He crashes and becomes an alcoholic as he remembers some of the tragic events in his life. A sliver of hope appears when he returns to the Kelly family.
I was deeply moved by the novel when I read it. I wish this movie could have been so much better. It tries to cover so much territory that it jumps quickly from incident to incident. No one but Saul's character is developed enough to have depth, with the possible exception of Grandma (Edna Manitowabi). And the film is unrelentingly dark, with only a minor flicker of hope at the end. The narrative style with the adult Saul voice is also not as effective as it could have been.
It is powerful, but it could have been more.