“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” will premier on HBO on May 27. The epic movie event is presented by Executive Producers Dick Wolf and Tom Thayer.
The film, based upon the the book by Dee Brown, is an epic film. The film is based upon the last chapter of the novel. from the Battle of Little Big Horn to the massacre of native families at Wounded Creek.
The book’s history of Native American Tribes has long been considered to be of too broad of scope to film. By focusing upon the final chapter of the book, the film was able to have a specific focus.
According to the HBO website (hbo.com), “the film powerfully explores the economic, political and social pressures that underpinned the opening of the American West and the tragic impact this expansion had on American Indian culture.
Dick Wolf was quoted on the HBO website (hbo.com), ” To say that this is a passion project would be a massive understatement. I;m incredibly grateful, excited and humbled that HBO is giving us the opportunity to bring one of the most important chapters in American History to life. “
Yves Simoneau added (hbo.com), “What happened at Wounded Knee seems like a long time ago. But this story is more relevant today than ever. It’s a story about humanity and the difficulty in understanding one another.”
The film begins just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn. The perspectives of three characters are intertwined, for unique viewpoints of the historic events. The three characters that share their viewpoints are Charles Eastman,. Sitting Buss and Senator Henry Dawes.
The characters in the movie include:
Charles Eastman played by Adam Beach is a young, Dartmouth educated Santee Sioux doctor who was raised a Christian and became a physician at the reservation He is held up as living proof of the success of assimilation.
Sitting Bull played by August Schellenberg is the proud Lakota chief who refuses to submit to U.;S. government policies that strip his people of their identities, dignity and sacred land in the Black Hills of the Dakotas, which are filled with gold.
Senator Henry Dawes played by Aidan Quinn who was one of the architects of the government policies on Indian affairs.
Elaine Goodale played by Anna Paquin who is a patrician schoolteacher working to improve life on the reservation.
General William Tecumseh Shermanplayed by Feore
Wovoka played by Studi an Indian Prophet who inspires hope for the Indians for the end of their suffering.
Hope for the Indians is destroyed after the assassination of Sitting Bull and the massacre of hundreds of Indians by the 7th Calvary at Wounded Knee Knee on December 19, 1890.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown, was published in 1971. The book is considered to be one of the foremost works about the subjugation of the American Indian. The book sold almost four million copies and has been translated in 17 languages, according to HBO (hbo.com).
Dee Brown’s book covers a thirty year history from 1860 to 1890. The book used a number of eyewitness accounts and official records to tell the story of the colonization of the American West. Two historical figures who were not in the book, but are in the movie, are Charles Eastman and Elaine Goodale. The HBO movie is based upon the last chapter of the book.
Resources:
HBO (hbo.com)
Channel Guide Magazine
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