War Pony

I am enthusiastic about tribal people, especially the Native Americans. Not by their touching story of getting butchered mercilessly by oppressing colonisers or the ‘brutality’ as ‘history’ highlights how savage they are— it’s all about the lifestyle they follow, the belief they practised for generations, their attitude to nature and words of wisdom reflected on the experience.

Unfortunately, War Pony neither includes any of the elements mentioned above nor the essence of what we may term a typical native culture but a decline of morale under the influence of rich white occupants who merely care about the life of the tribe. The movie is all about the oppression, seclusion, and discrimination Native Americans face in this century although they are ‘protected’ by legal rights and blah blah.

The story revolves around a few characters but represents the whole scenario of Pine Ridge Reservation in rural Dakota. The tribe is Oglala Lakota. Torn apart from their sacred belief, they are now at the mercy of the unwanted authority and local whites who tend to suck the life out of them to make more money.

Confined to limited space and discriminated from modern amenities, these people are bound to follow unfair means to lead their lives, survival demands doing things that their past generations always feared— drugs; the most influential entity that could ruin a society or a community in a blink of any eye is visibly dominant here. Father throws his son out of the house to make things right, teenage son sells his father’s illegal substances to make some extra cash— war begins, people die, relationship is compromised, and everything falls apart.
Nevertheless, love remains. Dreams sustain unforgiving circumstances despite odds, hope lives on.

That’s why the community mourns the death of others, friends find comfort in other’s company, and people try their best to live a dream life— hopes to be rich by raising Poodles, to support the family.

One thing that is more interesting about the movie is the characters, they are real. They are somehow connected to the reservation and not professional actors, not some fancy highly-paid artists trying to fit themselves in others’ shoes. That being said, the story is not only dramatised but felt with heart, absorbed to the fullest— all the sorrows, and realities.

Also, it was a debut film for the directors Riley Keough and Gina Gammell. Definitely a bold move for the young directors who decided not to go with the typical blockbuster artists to make their film a success, yet, it came out brilliant. Kudos to the genuine talent of the young artists who, despite adversities succeeded in portraying what it’s like to be on a reservation.

The film deserves more attention.

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