Skins

No, this is not the UK sitcom about the antics of coming of age.Skins tells the story of two brothers, Mogie (Graham Greene) and Rudy (Eric Schweig), who live very different lives on the same Native reservation. Rudy is a tribal police officer, who sees the worst moments of people's lives. Mogie, a Vietnam veteran, is drowning himself in his alcohol addiction, worsened by the neighboring town that caters to selling alcohol just outside reservation boundaries, as White Clay, NE used to do.While Mogie seems out of control, it's Rudy's own helplessness in the face of what he sees but cannot prevent every day that erupts in a way that changes both their lives forever.Skins isn't a lighthearted film at all. Yet Mogie's story, as deftly portrayed by Graham Greene, changed my relationship with an alcoholic parent. For that alone it's worth watching. It also allows for love in traumatized spaces without trivializing anything.Notable other performances by Chaske Spencer, Zahn McClarnon, Elaine Miles, Gary Farmer, Winona LaDuke, Misty Upham, Michael Spears, and even director Chris Eyres (and more).

Native American director Chris Eyre has created another excellent film about life on the reservation, told from the Indian point of view. Other reviews here represent the content of the film well, its story line involving two brothers and its social commentary, exposing the impact of poverty and alcoholism on the Lakota Sioux descendants of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.The movie, however, provides only a partial view of the book it's based on by Indian writer, Adrian Louis. His novel, "Skins," has enough material for a 10-part miniseries. It immerses the reader in the deeper complexities of its subject matter, exploring the dimensions of its characters more thoroughly (and with darker humor) and conveying a great deal more about life on the reservation, with its compelling mix of Indian and white cultures and the resulting ambiguities, competing world views, and conflicted values. It is significant that Iktomi, the trickster spirit and shape-shifter, is a central theme in both novel and film, for appearance and reality, wisdom and stupidity, pride and shame, love and rage are all in a continuing dance for dominance.Rudy, the Indian cop, portrays these confusing conflicts beautifully, representing both the law in his tribal police uniform and vigilante justice in his blackface and pantyhose mask. The author's book explores other dimensions of Rudy's confusion by letting us learn more about his relationships with women. In the novel he is married and estranged from his wife, and we follow the rocky ups and downs of his growing attraction to his cousin's wife, Stella, while he carries on with other men's wives as well. Afflicted with hypertension, he takes meds that affect his sexual performance, and much of the novel traces the rising and falling cycles of his libido, all of which are unpredictable and seemingly under the spell of Iktomi. Finally, while the film makes clear the love that bonds Rudy to his brother Mogie, the depth of that love comes across more strongly in the novel, as well as the demons that haunt Mogie and produce brotherly conflict.See the movie first, so you can more easily visualize the world that Adrian Louis describes and enjoy the wonderful performances of Eric Schweig and Graham Greene. Then read the book and allow yourself to know this subject and comprehend the Lakota culture more deeply. The ending, involving Mt. Rushmore, which is given an abruptly abbreviated treatment in the movie, will also make a lot more sense.

"Skins" (directed by Chris Eyre) is, to me, one of the best but also saddest films I've ever seen. It's an absorbing story of two brothers on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of them, Rudy, a law enforcement officer (Eric Schweig) and the other, Mogie, an alcoholic (Graham Greene). Apart from the brilliance of the performances these two actors deliver, the film addresses such painful issues as alcoholism, domestic violence, social inequality and the demise of a people. We see the bleak reality of everyday life on the reservation - a nation who has been brought to near extinction by the historical events in North America, suffering from the destruction of their traditional social order, is simply trying to survive. Unlike many other films about Native Americans that I've seen, there is no heroism or hope, really, in this one, but there is humour and compassion, despite the overwhelming frustration that permeates every scene.While the overall theme is the situation of Native Americans in today's society, the film also focuses on the universal idea of what is right and what is wrong and whether the end justifies the means - we witness the the inner battles of a human being who is doing bad things for a greater good and who has to live with the fact that with his actions he has unwittingly hurt those dearest to him.The interaction between Rudy and Mogie reveals so much resentment, frustration, hopelessness and yearning that it often brings you to tears, and yet we see that the brothers genuinely care about each other and they are able to enjoy some rare moments of fun together. This has to be one of Graham Greene's best performances ever.I sincerely recommend this to any viewers who are interested in more than just entertainment.

Excellent movie.Colorful and powerful. Spectacular performances.

good film to watch

Chris Eyre hat mit diesen Film nicht umsonst unzählige gute Kritiken u. Preise erhalten. 'Skins' ist für mich persönlich sogar noch besser als 'Smoke Signals'. Das Leben der heutigen Lakota im Pine Ridge Reservat, gewürzt mit einer Prise indigenen Humor, wurden nahezu perfekt umgesetzt. Dieser Film ist ein absolutes Muss für alle, die sich ernsthaft für die American Natives interessieren! Special Feature: eine Mini-Doku. Zwei Wermutstropfen: DVD mit Ländercode 1, d. h. man benötigt zum Abspielen einen Codefree oder Multiregion DVD Player. Außerdem sollte man einigermaßen Englisch können. Keine deutsche Synchronisation, keine deutschen Untertitel (nur Spanisch).

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Watched it twice so far, will watch again and again. Funny but heartbreaking.

Dieser Film ist wirklich sehr empfehlenswert. Er zeigt wie auch andere Filme von Chris Eyre einen guten Einblick in das Leben, aber auch die Philosophie der Native Americans. Es zahlt sich aus diesen Film öfters anzuschauen, weil man immer wieder neue Details entdeckt.