Wind River

Today's movie going audience is unfortunately conditioned to fast paced action laced with violence, sex and more often than not, void of story. We are used to thirty second blurbs and communicating in styles requiring less than 128 characters. As a result of our conditioning many have unfortunately lost sight of and seldom engage in real story which takes time for character development and the potential to draw our innermost thoughts and questions into the story. It is a shame because as a result of our conditioning we have lost sight on the beauty of such films and story included in films like Wind River.  We seldom read stories or books and unfortunately for many, seldom see movies like Wind River.

Last years little hit movie Hell or High Water with Jeff Bridges garnered deserving Oscar consideration in various areas. It was a delicious delight for people like me who appreciate a well crafted story. Thankfully Hell or High Water film had an audience, and that audience and others will likely love Wind River.

Wind River reminds me of the well reviewed and loved television show Longmire with a taste of storytelling resembling Hell or High Water. In other words, it is a movie I loved. Jeremy Renner plays Fish and Wildlife Officer Cory Lambert who is a tracker and hunter whom removes vermin such as coyotes, wolves and mountain lions who kill ranch animals on the massive Indian Reservation, Wind River. After coming across the dead body of a female he knows while out hunting he gets involved in trying to solve the death along with tribal law enforcement headed up by Ben played by Graham Green and FBI agent, Jane Banner played by Elizabeth Olson. While there is a good supporting cast, these three drive the film with their tremendous acting and incredibly well crafted story directed by Taylor Sheridan who also wrote the script.

Wind River is euphoria for the eyes and more importantly, the mind. Sheridan has a habit of being involved in quality movies as of late including Sicario and my favorite of last year, Hell or High Water. He continues that quality craftsmanship in Wind River. While there isn't any over the top cinematography as an example, what we do have is so realistic that we don't feel like we are watching a documentary as much as we as the viewer are engaged in the story that is taking place before us. There is something to be said about the ability to do this, the story does not have any technical aspects that take away from the story, instead everything from the sound to the cinematography as an example, only contribute to the story.  We don't have as much of an art experience as we do an engaging story, while having a few faults, is still so rare now a days that one can't help but still be thrilled by the experience.

Much of the story in Wind River deals with coming together in uncomfortable settings to stand up for and speak out against those who are often forgotten about. We see this especially in the character of Jane, an FBI agent stationed in Las Vegas who is terribly out of her element in the early Spring, yet still very cold and snowy climate of Wyoming. She as a character has something inherently good about her and is observed as she chooses to care for an Indian lady who has been found dead by Fish and Wildlife officer Cory Lambert. She recognizes early on that she will need to depend on his skill sets to go out of her way to find resolve to a death that the system seems to care very little about or has little funding to focus on.  This part of the story is incredibly accurate to the real Wind River as will be illustrated later on, but in a community the size of Delaware in the United States of America that has a life expectancy similar to that of a third world country, it would come across from observations, that just like in the movie, few seem to really care about the plight of these peoples.

The message of coming together, carrying for each other is an important message for those of us recognizing much of what is going on in today's world where it seems as if there is so much more of a focus on self than there is others. While some may see a drug addict or a father or mother that may seem to not care, we must go beyond the obvious outward signs to search deeper to discover the reality of what is going on. This is especially true when there are the cultural differences that may exist and the conditions, whether self inflicted or inflicted by society that makes life for people difficult.

There is a need if you will to discover that just as we can read about in the Bible, there are universal similarities and in some ways, while we may focus on the differences, we should also look for and recognize the universal similarities.

"no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help." ~ Romans 10:12

"Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman." ~ Galatians 3:28

We must also realize, that when Jesus was asked, "Am I my brothers keeper?"  His response could be easily translated, "You're darned right you are!"

Is there a need to care about the oppressed in our world today?  You bet there is, for example, one of the examples pointed out in Wind River is that “While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women.”  Details such as this should motivate us to action; action like what is illustrated in Wind River. We should care about our fellow human being enough to make a difference, even when that involves coming together with those who may be so different that we would have never expected to go together on the same journey. 

Wind River is not a perfect movie, but it may be a perfect movie for today's world, a movie that could cause us to think, and one that could, for some if willing to try, could have us engaged in not just story, but story that could make a difference.

On a scale of 1 - 10, for the 9 letters in Wind River I will give it a very thought provoking, and wonderfully appreciated rating of a 9  

To view the trailer for the movie Wind River, just click on the video below, if the video doesn't work, try the following link:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN9PDOoLAfg



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