Songs My Brothers Taught Me

September. 09,2015      
Rating:
7
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Trailer Synopsis Cast

This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home.

John Reddy as  Johnny Winters
Jashaun St. John as  Jashaun Winters
Irene Bedard as  Lisa Winters
Eléonore Hendricks as  Angie Britt
Derrick Janis as  Victor Chasing Hawk

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Reviews

Hellen
2015/09/09

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Exoticalot
2015/09/10

People are voting emotionally.

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FeistyUpper
2015/09/11

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

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Erica Derrick
2015/09/12

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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Red_Identity
2015/09/13

It's easy to make a film like this go wrong, with all of the potential possibilities to be lazy and write these characters and stereotypes. Of course, the film doesn't do that and it's because Chloe Zhao has a real knack for creating profound humanity through the images that represent this type of life, humanity that she infuses her characters with. This is a very special film and this is a director to watch out for.

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rebtguy-39674
2015/09/14

I enjoyed the film, a contemporary portrait of growing up and coming of age in America in a very different setting and culture than most. Early on, the movie gave me the distinct feeling of watching a documentary rather than a fiction with rehearsed actors. Images tell the stories as much as the dialog, which is very spare. The characters seem very real, as real as their scruffy surroundings. A worthwhile portrait of a part of society most of us won't see, "really" see. The Badlands scenery is very stark and so are (most) of the lives depicted. It's interesting that I saw this film in a contemporary arts center, where it played for two nights. It seems films like this struggle to get on enough screens in enough places to get noticed much. Maybe some people will get to see in on video, I hope.

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Turfseer
2015/09/15

First-time writer-director Choe Zhao is now making the rounds on the indie circuit (garnering a couple of Spirit Award Nominations along the way), with the intriguing Songs My Brothers Taught Me. Somehow she was able to befriend denizens of the insular Pine Ridge Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota and fashioned a coming of age story with members of the local population taking on most of the acting roles.One is struck immediately by the urban influence on the reservation, particularly rap music, which most of the kids and teenagers appear to enjoy profusely. There is of course the sad influence of alcohol which contributes to the overall depressing atmosphere on the reservation--but at the same time, the people there have not given up the Native American customs, which constantly remind them of their ancestors and what was once an intimate connection to the land.John Reddy plays Johnny Winters, a high school senior, who plans on leaving the reservation and seeking his fortune in Los Angeles after he graduates. He lives in a small house with his mother and sister Jashaun. Johnny's father, a man who fathered 25 children from nine women, is not close with Johnny and Jashaun—and early on he's killed in a fire at his home. Community members pay tribute to their fallen neighbor but Johnny doesn't appear to get overly emotional about his father's death.Johnny works for Bill, illegally selling alcohol on the reservation so that he can save enough money to follow his girlfriend, Aurelia, who plans to attend college in California. Bill has a non-native Caucasian girlfriend who expresses a sexual interest in Johnny at one point, but nothing comes of it. Meanwhile, Jashaun is perhaps looking for a father figure and finds one in distant relative Travis, a tattoo and clothing designer who she bonds with. I also shouldn't forget that Johnny's older brother is incarcerated in state prison and both the mother and kids periodically visit him.Zhao's narrative is extremely slow-moving and the characters are virtually all low-key. One has to wonder whether this film could have been better as a documentary. The exciting moments here are really few and far between. Things do perk up a bit when we see Johnny's dream of becoming a boxer shattered when he's pummeled mercilessly during a sparring session with a far superior pugilist. And then there's a moment of violence when tribal gang members beat Johnny up and set his truck on fire in retaliation for an earlier confrontation in which they felt he had "dissed" them.The film closes, suggesting (I think) that Johnny wasn't ready quite yet to leave the reservation. There's a great contrast with Johnny furiously riding a horse with his friends to the next scene where he's talking on his cellphone. In his final narration we see scenes of rodeo and boxing juxtaposed with a traditional Native American ceremony. Johnny notes that his sister has more of an affinity for the traditional culture than he does. Ms. Zhao has done well allowing us a glimpse of this insular world—I just wish there was more of a well developed plot to go along with it.

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thomasmark23
2015/09/16

The first 45 minutes or so of Songs might fool you into thinking you're watching another well-made, indie Sundance movie. Good, but nothing special.And then as if by magic, the movie sucks you into its universe. Seemingly disjointed pieces of story start blending together to create a beautiful whole, a story full of despair and of hope, of ugliness and beauty. It floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee, eschewing political or social commentary for a poetic, equally effective approach. A story of brotherly love in a stunning and tragic landscape.I'm not ashamed to say the final moments brought tears to my eyes. Beautifully shot, understated but powerful, SONGS is a really impressive, mature debut, and should be on your watch-list for this year.

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