Tantoo Cardinal Movies

The truths of the past come to light in a series of haunting visions in this drama starring Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, and Wes Studi. Traumatized by the strange visions that grow more vivid with each passing day, a young woman of Native American heritage begins piecing together a Catholic priest's diabolical plot to prevent her mother from revealing the atrocities that unfolded at a Native Indian boarding school. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The despair of Canada's native community in the 21st century dovetails with a story of mystery and murder in this moody drama from filmmaker Carl Bessai. Rebecca (Carmen Moore) is a woman in her early thirties of aboriginal heritage living in the rough and tumble East Side of Vancouver, where crime, drugs, and prostitution are common and many native Canadians have become caught in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Rebecca also looks after her ailing father, and shortly before he dies, he shares some startling news with her -- Rebecca's mother Rita (Tantoo Cardinal), who she has long thought to be dead, is actually still alive and living in Vancouver. Rebecca desperately wants to reconnect with Rita, but she begins to scour the East Side in search of her mom at a very dangerous time. Norman (Callum Keith Rennie) is a psychotic killer obsessed with aboriginal women who has been prowling the East Side looking for victims, and as Rebecca looks for Rita she unwittingly puts herself in the fiend's path. Based on an acclaimed stage play by Marie Clements (who also wrote the film's screenplay), Unnatural and Accidental received its world premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This adaptation of Tony Hillerman's A Thief of Time keeps that book's original storyline. The protagonists Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) and Jim Chee (Adam Beach) are a pair of Navajo police officers whose beat is their reservation. They must investigate why some important historical artifacts have gone missing. This film was directed by Chris Eyre and produced by Robert Redford. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable romantic drama was based on the book Fishing with John by Manhattan journalist Edith Iglauer. Jaclyn Smith stars as Iglauer, who is on assignment in British Columbia to write a flippantly satiric piece about the Canadian salmon industry. A "meet cute" scene unites Edith with taciturn, reclusive fisherman John Daly (Tim Matheson). She's sophisticated, he's earthy; she throws up at the sight of a gutted fish, he was born with a fishing pole in his hand; she never stops talking, he never starts. In other words, Edith and John are made for each other, and before the story ends, the two of them have joined forces to save all the other salmon fishermen in the Dominion from ruination and despair. Described by one journalist as the world's first eco-romance, Navigating the Heart made its Lifetime network debut on February 14, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Russian woman gets an unexpected crash course in small-town American life in this independent comedy drama. Jake (Vincent Angelini) lives and works in Paradise, a small town in southwestern Michigan. Jake is gruff and good-hearted when sober but can be mean-spirited and unpredictable when drunk. His close friend Chick (Randall Godwin) thinks Jake needs a wife, so when he reads a magazine report about Russian women making themselves available as mail-order brides, he poses as Jake to write several letters to an attractive woman from the Ukraine; he also raises money among Jake's friends to bring her to America. Viktoria (Natalia Nazarova) is puzzled by Jake's lack of enthusiasm when she first meets him, and is outraged by his alcoholic discourtesy to her; she storms out and ends up staying with Reenie (Tantoo Cardinal), the no-nonsense barmaid at the local tavern. The next morning, Viktoria realizes that Chick bought her a one-way ticket, leaving her stranded. Reenie takes Viktoria under her wing, giving her a job at the bar while they figure out a way to send her back home. Postmark Paradise marked the feature film debuts for both director Thompson E. Clay and screenwriter Dan Slider; the film was a prize-winner at the 2000 East Lansing Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This dramatic feature was written, directed, and co-produced by Native Americans. Native American writer Sherman Alexie scripted this adaptation of his 1993 short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Director Chris Eyre's previous short Someone Kept Saying Powwow is incorporated into the 88-minute feature. Developed at the Sundance Lab in 1995, the film was a winner of both the Audience Award and the Filmmakers' Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. In 1976, an infant survives a fire that kills his parents. In a flash forward to the present day, the infant has grown up to become the skinny, nerdy adult Thomas (Evan Adams). At Idaho's desolate Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation, the overeager youth is mostly ignored by others, including stoic athletic Victor Joseph (Adam Beach), even though it was Victor's father, alcoholic Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), who saved the infant Thomas' life in the fire. A drunken Arnold later abandoned his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father in a decade. When Victor learns of Arnold's death in Phoenix, Thomas offers to pay for the trip to Phoenix if he can accompany Victor. They make an odd couple since Victor is embarrassed by Thomas' geekiness. In Phoenix, they find that Arnold lived in a small trailer in the desert, and they meet Arnold's friend Suzy Song (Irene Bedard), who provides disturbing truths about Arnold that impact on Victor. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This Ken Burns documentary, narrated by Hal Holbrook, chronologically traces the well-documented 1804-06 military expedition of Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and Lt. William Clark (1770-1838) to survey newly acquired lands and seek a Northwest Passage. Ordered by Thomas Jefferson (who labeled it the Corps of Discovery), the expedition was approved by Congress in 1803, and several dozen men were trained in Illinois in the winter of 1803-04. On May 14, 1804, the explorers departed from St. Louis, heading up the Missouri River by keelboat and continuing westward over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Ken Burns spent almost four years on this project, retracing the route with cameras capturing mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and forests at the same time of year as first seen by Lewis and Clark. Traditional and Native American music provides an accompaniment to the grandeur of these vast vistas, while Stephen Ambrose and other historians offer illuminating anecdotes. Paintings and maps are intercut, but unlike other Burns documentaries, few archival photos are included (since photography was not invented until decades later). Reenactments, seen at a distance, are also kept at a bare minimum. The four-hour film premiered as a PBS two-parter on November 4-5, 1997. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this provocative drama, three Native American families attempt the difficult task of living successfully in modern society while still remaining true to their cultural tradition and heritage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The sweeping, melodramatic saga of three brothers, their powerful father, and a beautiful woman, the popular period drama Legends of the Fall presents a romanticized view of rugged masculinity against lush Montana scenery. Based on a novel by Jim Harrison, the film covers decades in the lives of Alfred (Aidan Quinn), Tristan (Brad Pitt), and Samuel (Henry Thomas) Ludlow, the sons of retired military man William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins). Raised by the unorthodox Ludlow after the departure of their mother, the boys grow up close, sharing an appreciation of the land and a pioneering spirit. The family becomes divided, however, when young Sam enlists in World War I over his father's objections, and his brothers follow suit to protect him. Despite these efforts, Sam dies in battle, leaving Alfred and Tristan to return home and deal with the lingering torment. Further complicating matters is the presence of Sam's beautiful fiancée, Susannah (Julia Ormond). After Sam's death, she attracts the romantic attention of both the responsible Alfred and the brooding Tristan, a conflict that threatens to drive the brothers apart. Aspiring to epic status, the film utilizes period detail and attractive landscapes as a backdrop for tragic, doomed romance. While some critics complained that the film resembled a romance novel writ, veering at times into the overwrought, audiences embraced the combination of emotion and grand historical scale, making the film a box-office success. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Playwright Sam Shepard wrote and directed this bizarre combination of western film revisionism and Greek tragedy. Silent Tongue (Tantoo Cardinal) is a mute Kiowa who is raped by Eamon McCree (Alan Bates), the owner of the Kickapoo Traveling Medicine Show. Eamon attempts to make up for his crime by marrying her, hoping for forgiveness. Instead, Silent Tongue enacts a bitter retribution through her two daughters, Awbonnie (Sheila Tousey) and Velada (Jeri Arredondo). Awbonnie, as the film begins, has already died, but her grieving husband Talbot (River Phoenix) refuses to let her go, dragging around her corpse. To assuage Talbot, his father Prescott (Richard Harris) sets out to purchase Velada from Eamon, thinking that only Awbonnie's sister can replace her in Talbot's eyes. But Velada's half-brother Reeves (Dermot Mulroney) protests the attempted transaction. As a result, Prescott kidnaps Velada and flees, with not only Reeves and Eamon chasing him, but also Awbonnie's ghost. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Jay Craven and Don Bredes adapted Howard Frank Mosher's novel about a 1920s Vermont logger who is being pressured to sell his land to a power company so the region can enjoy its first hydroelectric dam. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide