Kalte Reise (1975)

Kalte Reise: Directed by Martin Defalco. With John Yesno, Buckley Petawabano, Chief Dan George, Alphonse Dorion. A feature drama about a young Canadian Indian’s attempt to find a place for himself. It tells of the cultural shock of an educational system that teaches him to be a white man, and of his attempts to discover a way of life more meaningful to his Native culture and ancestry. It is a tragic story of unexpected pitfalls and disillusionment that are as cruel as the bitter wind that greets him on his cold and lonely journey.

“I seem to be the first one submitting a review of COLD JOURNEY. This strikes me as odd since it did have a VHS release back in the day, and I recently watched the tape of it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eProduced by the National Film Board of Canada with a cast of mostly amateur actors, the film is a character study of u0026quot;Buckleyu0026quot;, an aimless 15 year-old Cree Indian who is torn between two worlds—the ways he is learning at the white manu0026#39;s school, and the simple ways of his tribe, who are starting to reject him because he is becoming u0026quot;too whiteu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe only professional actor in the film is Chief Dan George, in a cameo as u0026quot;Uncle Johnu0026quot;, another variation of the old sage character he played far too often. Perhaps he was hired for name value to help secure financing for this film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCOLD JOURNEY is interesting, but very slow moving. It seems to be aimed at Cree audiences—others may be less interested. It is a worthwhile effort, and I recommend it to those who find the subject matter interesting.”