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“The Exiles,” a story not often told
An important piece of true American history makes its Milwaukee premiere at UWM
By Jason Corning
What “The Exiles” does is shed light on a relatively unexplored culture living in a place that like them, is often misinterpreted.
There is no question that Los Angeles is the most over used setting in the history of film, Cop movies, buddy movies, horror, chick flicks, movies both good and bad, you name the genre and L.A. has served as the backdrop. You’d think there exists no story that can’t be told there. Yet, for the first time in a long while a movie has appeared which boasts one story that has never been told before.
“The Exiles” is a full-length feature film chronicling one night in the life of twenty- something Native Americans in the City of Angels. Shot in 1960 by USC graduate Kent Mackenzie, the film offers an intriguing look into the lives of a people rarely depicted in both mainstream fiction and non-fiction. Using interviews and filmed conversations to formulate the general script, Mackenzie employed many of his subjects to play themselves, offering a unique glimpse into their lives as a blend of documentary as well as narrative. This method allows the subjects to tell the story of their lives as they see it. The viewer also watches from a detached perspective as the men flirt, drink and gamble, and the women escape to the movie theatre to dream. We hear their thoughts in their own words, which often comes across as conversation without narration. It is not your typical anthropologic study, with its sometimes patronizing notion of “noble savages,” nor is it a glamorized fiction that only adds to the existing misinformation regarding many Native Americans.
What “The Exiles” does best is shed light on a relatively unexplored culture living in a place that like them, is often misinterpreted. It is honest and humble in its simplicity. If you are interested in the Native American people, culture or their nearly lost history, “the Exiles” presents it in a nearly unadulterated form. You’ll be one of the first to see this piece of American life in its newly restored form and you’ll be smarter for it.
“The Exiles” is playing for free at the Union Theatre from Friday, September 19th to Sunday, September 21st. The film will premiere at 7 pm on Friday, 5 and 9pm on Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.
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