The directorial debut of Chinese-American filmmaker Chloé Zhao, Songs my Brother Taught Me, can easily be mistaken at first as a documentary of the Lakota Indians on Pine Ridge Reservation in the South Dakota Badlands. Until the first kiss. This film is about isolation and the challenges of breaking away from home.
Nonprofessional actors mumble dialogue that sounds improvised. First-time native kids populate this film, lending it an authenticity that would be missing in a tighter screen play. You pick up information as the film proceeds, which can impede comprehension.
This style calls to mind the Taiwanese film The Assassin, Hou Hsiao-Hsien (2015), much more obscure yet filled with breathtaking panoramic cinematography like this film (Joshua James Richards).
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| horseback riders dwarfed by landscape in The Assassin |
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| horseback riders dwarfed by landscape in Zhao film |
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