deadCENTER review: “A Good Day To Die”
“A Good Day To Die”
Directed by David Mueller and Lynn Salt
The best documentaries examine the overlooked. For “A Good Day To Die”, filmmakers David Mueller and Lynn Salt opened up a chapter of American history rarely read by anyone, the story of Dennis Banks and the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) of the late 1960s and 1970s.
The film is beautifully researched, as Mueller and Salt spent two years digging into dozens of archives across the country to find photographs, news reports, video (homemade and from various news outlets) while also procuring just as many interviews with members of A.I.M. and the federal government present at the scenes of protests, trials and marches the country over. Backed by a Native American soundtrack (composed mostly of Banks’ singing), the tense scenes at the Wounded Knee occupation and protest in Custer, South Dakota carry a far more deathly imposition than that of Vietnam protests of the same era accompanied by “For What It’s Worth”.
Co-founder Banks and the the rise of A.I.M. were inextricably linked, and filmmakers follow him from his youth spent at a U.S. government-enforced boarding school in Minnesota to a brief stint in prison before he began a policy of “confrontational politics” against the government that many of the interviewed Native Americans liken to a big bully. Among their complaints were that Minnesota police were pinning unsolved crimes on Native Americans and that unjust mass arrests and harassment were denying them their civil rights.
There’s documentation aplenty of A.I.M.’s occupations of Custer, Washington D.C. and Wounded Knee and the grainy footage of pissed-off automatic weapon-wielding Indians at the latter is pretty awesome. It’s a powerful image that answers the film’s resounding question, “What do people do when they’re abused and oppressed to the point that they’re willing to die for better conditions?” It’s like a real-life “Braveheart” with a real-life William Wallace, told in documentary form.
Unfortunately the film doesn’t ply very deep into the private character of Dennis Banks. We learn a lot about his motivation to help his people but the audience doesn’t see him at his most personal, in his individual relationships with others. Regardless, he’s presented as a determined, motivational character who’s well-loved and appreciated by native people the world over.
Grade: 3.5 stars out of 4
–Carney
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Donna, you might not think so highly of Dennis Banks after reading American Indian Mafia and its upcoming sequel. The author confronted Lynn Salt about Banks’ criminal history, including the secret murder of civil rights activist Ray Robinson at Wounded Knee, the murder of Buddy Lamont at Wounded Knee, and the ordered execution of Anna Mae Aquash in 1975. Banks allegedly shot Robinson in the knee and had his body buried. He allegedly had Buddy Lamont, a local Lakota, shot in the back during a fierce gun battle. And according to a growing number of Indians, Banks ordered Aquash’s murder after she was found “guilty” of being an FBI informant. She was never an informant. Salt had no response to these allegations other than to deny them. There’s also ample evidence that Banks has fathered over several dozen children out of wed lock, abandoning virtually all of them. There are allegations he bullied and threatened the real walkers in his most recent Longest Walk; either turn over donations to his thugs or get beat up. New evidence corroborates Dennis’ violence against women throughout his “career,” an aspect Salt and her friends were careful to avoid. In their rush to garner Hollywood attention, I’m afraid Miss Salt intentionally ignored key evidence that would have made her project a damning but factual account of a very troubled man. Most disturbing is how this film uses genuine Indian heroes and historical Indian struggles to elevate murderers and rapists to celebrity status. Shameful, to say the least. Expect to see a substantial challenge to this film’s veracity and historical accuracy in the near future.
I remember most of this as it was the era that I grew up in. The film brought to light things that I was totally unaware of. I am also a registered Native American for the Northwest Tribes, but grew up in California. I support 100% the force behind the A.I.M.. What is sad is that there are many other stories of the same abuse of the Native Americans that people have been shielded from. Some dating back to other governments in earlier times. High ranking military that refied what people said and challenged them to stop them. American Indians over the years have been lied to, framed, abused, just to name a few. I appreciate Lynn and David’s work on the documentary and hope there will be a sequel.
Thanks