A Man Called Horse (1970)

Although this film appeared to be a western for the 1970's, the story was not new. The writer, Dorothy M. Johnson, originally wrote it for the T.V. series Wagon Train (1957-65). Ralph Meeker was cast then in the Richard Harris role, and an excellent job he made of it, in his quiet way. A good story will always stand the test of time, as this proves.

Fmovies: I first saw this film in the theatre when it came out in 1970. It was a welcome departure from earlier films about pioneers sitting among their circled wagons shooting whooping Indians like ducks in an arcade.

I saw it last weekend for the first time since, and I think that it holds up well. Whatever the flaws, it is a reasonably good depiction of Dakota Sioux going about their business in the 1820s.

This movie demonstrates that a story can be told with very little dialog and a lot of non-verbal expression. Harris might be the most prominent character but, cumulatively, the cast of small characters weighs in just as heavy.

It is one of the rare films about American Indians that is not at all concerned by their extermination by Custer and company. But it is in fact a lot deeper than that. It shows from inside the functioning, the culture, the rites and rituals of Sioux Indians when a white English Lord is captured and turned into a slave for some time. It shows how he manages to become a warrior by killing two Shoshone assailants. Then he marries the sister of the chief and eventually becomes the chief after a war with the Shoshones who attack the village that he defends successfully. And then they move. It shows how hard they are with old women when their sons have disappeared. It shows how hard they are with their warriors who have to go through very cruel rites. Pain is the deliverer of the soul. It shows the basic motivation of wars between tribes: to loot the others, in other words to survive by doing nothing productive but appropriating what is not theirs but the others'. It could be considered as light anthropologically but when it came out in 1970 it was a real revolution in the sympathy and empathy it conveyed about the Indians, but also about the fact that cruelty and pain were never looked for per se but always to prove the courage and the strength of the person. In other words it is the proof that Sioux Indians had a high level of morality based on proved physical endurance and courage. It also proved that love was a real dimension among them governing the relations among fellow human beings in the tribe and between men and women, though their love was not necessarily expressed the way we would romantically adorn it.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

A Man Called Horse fmovies. I have to laugh sometimes when I read otherwise sane comments from amateur reviewers. This film has fairly awkward productions values compared to the present, also many of the actors playing native people are very much NOT native. That aside, this is a BREAKTHROUGH movie for Hollywood circa 1970. This movie is not similiar to Dances With Wolves-it's effectively the other way around. I find it strange so many people make that comment. This movie predates the other by more than THIRTY YEARS!!! Anyway ackward production values aside the presentation of the Lakota is far from the touchy feely view Costner presented,we see the brutal side of their way of doing things also, which is as factual as what we see today just not very PC. This is a great period classic,well worth watching.

As noted Lakota historian Vine Deloria, Jr. said about this movie: "As we learned from movies like "A Man Called Horse," the more "accurate" and "authentic" a film is said to be, the more extravagant it is likely to be ... in its misrepresentation of Indians." I read comments where viewers believed that this movie provided a fair and sympathetic portrayal of Indian people. Don't you believe it. Neither Lakota people nor any other Native group allowed their elders to die of starvation and exposure as portrayed in this movie. There can be no other example in any movie portraying Indians that is more offensive than this. On the contrary, it is American society that throws their elders into "old folks homes" where they are often neglected and abused, not us. The Sundance, a sacred religious ceremony of commitment, sacrifice, and thanksgiving, is portrayed as some kind of macho baloney that every male had to undergo in order to prove his manhood; in fact, the film implies that a male without scars could not have a woman. This is patently false and cheapens the commitment of the participants. Not everyone participates, nor are they expected to. Further, the jacket on the original VHS tape states that in order to recreate authentic costuming "the production designer met with real American Indians, only to discover their notion of clothing was based on the costumes designed by Hollywood studios." The arrogance of this statement would almost be beyond belief, if we were not already long used to this kind of American egotism already. Next time you watch it, look at the unimaginative costuming. Everyone of you has probably seen examples of the beautiful quill work that preceded the use of trade beads. Then, of course, the Lakota can only beat the Pawnee because the British lord teaches them how to really fight. Give me a break. It's the same theme in Dances with Wolves and other films. Love this movie, defend this movie, but don't for an instant believe that it is an authentic portrayal of anything other than some Hollywood director's uninspired attempt to show us how much he really doesn't know about Indians.

If you liked Dances With Wolves, this is the movie that spawned the stories of Native Americans from their perspective. The majesty of the great American West unspoiled before the westward movement pushed the mighty races into obscurity and off their lands is presented here with unparalleled grandeur. The acting from Richard Harris to the many natives in the film is magnificent and lends itself mightily in portraying the triumphs & tragedies of life at its basics, that is, survival. A must see if you are a student of the American Indian culture. Great cinematography and if you have never heard of the ritual "Ceremony of the Sun" it is given here as realistic as it gets. Outstanding to preserve heritage is this film in its efforts.

A Moore