Hidalgo

[TennesseeWalker]

Go see it. Great movie. Kind of like "Seabiscuit in Arabia". I loved it....but I love horses and Native Americans. :)

Supposed to be based on a true story, or something resembling the true story. :) We liked it very much....

[Lorien]

1. Well with a name like TennesseeWalker

you would HAVE to be a horse lover! ;-)

Glad to hear that you liked the film. A buddy of mine animated the leopards (or were they tigers? Haven't seen it yet myself) though he didn't like the job he did on them. My cousins SO is a stuntman, and was one of the riders (he's Native but plays a convincing Arab). And a good friend of hers wrote the script (another Native, like herself)-so I'm happy for all involved that it has been generally well recieved.

[TennesseeWalker]

2. Leopards.

VERY realistic. My compliments to your friends. The movie pretty much equated Arabs and Muslims with the American Indians. There were some cartoon villains, but overall, the US policy toward the Native American peoples was shown to be extremely harsh, which it was. It wasn't preachy about it, but you can easily draw the conclusion that we treated them horribly.

Kind of made me long for simpler days, as well. I don't even care if Frank Hopkins was real. The spirit of the movie means more to me than whether or not it was a true story.

[Lorien]

3. US policy was and still is harsh

on Natives (especially where land/ natural resources are concerned). My cousin is Chippewa and co-founder of First Americans in the Arts, a society that recognizes Native achievements in all Arts /media. Their awards ceremony is being held next Saturday at Merv Griffin's hotel in Beverly Hills (same venue as Golden Globes) and I expect that "Hidalgo" will receive many honors because so many Natives were involved with it. I'm really bummed out, because I was supposed to attend as usual, but crushing medical bills have canceled my plans :-(. I was really looking forward to meeting Viggo Mortensen.;( *sigh*

Every year I am told by my cousin's friends that there are many great Native stories just waiting to be put on the screen, but Hollywood is wary of them because Natives make up less than 1% of America's population, and studios would rather focus on those in the greatest majorities. It's truly tragic that the most "American" among us are often the most marginalized.

[youngred]

4. It was alright

Good film, worth the money, not spectacular though