Kevin Willmott is an obviously political film-maker – his ‘CSA: Confederate States of America’ hypothesised an alternate history in which the civil war was lost by the North; and he brought his next film ‘The Only Good Indian’ to Sundance this weekend. From the opening shot when a Native American woman opens the door of her house onto sun-split plains before stepping onto the gravel outside, it’s clear that Willmott knows his Westerns.

It may seem a cliched homage at first – this iconic image belongs in ‘The Searchers’ – but soon a story unfolds that might have John Ford spinning. ‘The Only Good Indian’, written by Thomas L. Carmody, relates yet another neglected part of the American West mythology – the forced removal of Native children to boarding schools, on pain of physical assault, and with no guarantee of return to their parents. It resonates with the story that ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence’ tells of Aboriginal children; and, like that film, ‘The Only Good Indian’ is instructive and moving, driven by a wonderful central performance by Winter Fox Frank as the abducted boy; Wes Studi as the private detective tracking him, and J. Kenneth Campbell’s sheriff are ably along for the ride.




Download