INAATE/SE (2016)

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Siskoid
A passionate eye documentary focused on the Ojibway community of Sault-Sainte-Marie (U.S. side), INAATE/SE/ is a bit of a collage, and while I appreciate many of its parts, I'm not always sure they belong in the same film. The better stuff: Discussions on a pre-colonial prophecy and how it relates to later events, and the white community (and local museum) edifying the missionaries who converted so many Natives (by hook and by crook, as you can imagine) - and I do mean edifying, with the Tower of History acting like a big middle finger to the Great Spirit. I also appreciate the trippy vision quest montage, but it comes late into the narrative, and feels like the film makers were just adding random things to the doc at that point. Less successful still are the interviews with various Natives, in particular the alcoholic gun nut, often without commentary or intrinsic connection to anything else. Some make interesting subjects, but they deserve their own documentary piece and get sort of lost in the frenzied experimentalism of INAATE/SE/. Lots of intriguing bits, and despite its specificity, reaches for universal truths. One just wishes for a bit more coherence. 1 year 4 months ago