Alongside "Smoke Signals" and "Atanarjuat the Fast Runner," the new documentary "Arctic Son" is distinguished by its depth of understanding about indigenous life as well as its ability to tell a story, a sine qua non for any film.
"Arctic Son" refers to Stanley Njootli Jr., a young member of the Gwichin Nation that is spread across Alaska and the Yukon Territory. When the film starts, we see Stanley Jr. getting drunk in a Seattle bar. As is the case with far too many Indians, the temptation to abuse drugs and alcohol is enormous. Although he calls this "partying," one can only feel pity for this deracinated youth. When he is seen weaving across the street after leaving the bar, some friends shout out to him from a passing car, "Go get treatment, Stanley, get treatment." He stands in the middle of the street and curses them out. The movie documents his visit with his father Stanley Njootli Sr., who tries to live according to Indian customs in Old Crow, a tiny village in the Yukon that is home to the "Vuntut Gwichin," which means "People of the Lakes." After learning about his son's dissolute life-style, his father (who is separated from the mom who lives in Seattle) invites him up to Old Crow to wean him away from drugs and alcohol and to teach him Indian ways. There certainly will be fewer temptations in Old Crow as the town has a drinking ban. We do eventually learn that there are ways around this as there would be in any Indian reservation. People desperate enough will make their own home brew with anything that is handy, including potatoes. full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2006/04/24/artic-son/ -- www.marxmail.org
