Inconvenient Indian

Based on Thomas King’s 2012 book, Inconvenient Indian explores the colonization of Indigenous peoples in North America and the degree to which their history has been wiped out over the years. It’s compelling subject matter that is, by and large, employed to underwhelming and uninvolving effect by Michelle Latimer, as the filmmaker delivers an excessively avant-garde documentary that has, for the most part, been stripped of context and information – with the picture instead dominated by long, drawn-out sequences that ultimately feel like they’d be more at home within an installation at an art gallery. And while the movie admittedly does boast a small handful of impactful moments and sequences – there is, for example, powerful footage of a protest that crops up towards the end – Inconvenient Indian is mostly undermined by Latimer’s less-than-accomplished handling of the material and an ongoing emphasis on entirely needless segments. (The most obvious example of the latter is an interminable and thoroughly unpleasant interlude in which a hunter stalks, shoots, and beats a seal.) It’s clear, ultimately, that Inconvenient Indian might’ve worked as a documentary short but has absolutely no business running feature length, which is a shame, certainly, given the topical and exceedingly relevant nature of its source material.

** out of ****