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♦ SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 2006
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Blake’s ‘Yell’ emphasizes humanity over numbers, dispels myths
By William Kerns
Morris News Service
LUBBOCK, Texas - Before
Michael Blake first put pen
to paper - and he writes all of
his works longhand - to cre
ate “Dances with Wolves,”
he already had envisioned
the story as a trilogy.
He followed “Dances”
more than 10 years later
with “The Holy Road,” and
mentioned during a recent
interview that the third saga
will be called “Shadows on
the Land” and will guide
major figures’ descendants
into the 20th century.
Somewhat surprisingly,
however, Blake has taken
his first detour into the
world of non-fiction, pains
takingly documenting the
FALL
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into situations in character.
Nov. 10
STRANGER THAN
FICTION: As if an inces
sant interior monologue
weren’t irritating enough,
an IRS agent discovers that
the voices he has been hear
ing are actually an author
writing his tale. Problems
arise when he discovers that
she is writing his demise.
Will Farrell plays the IRS
agent and Emma Thompson
plays the blocked writer.
FUR: Loosely based on the
so-called Indian uprisings
of the 1800 s by introducing
us to the Indian and white
leaders who strategized, won
and lost.
Blake tears away rumors
and half-truths and quickly
makes history draw breath
within the gripping pages
of his new venture, “Indian
Yell: The Heart of an
American Insurgency.”
For now, set aside the nag
ging thought that Blake’s
history can only repeat
itself, that, with a change
of names and years, gov
ernmental corruption that
plagued General Custer’s
elite Seventh Cavalry might
be compared to modern-day
news unveilings. There is a
“same as it ever was” aura
surrounding the perceived
life of photographer Diane
Arbus, this story centers on
the artist’s discovering odd
and disquieting people on
the fringes of society, people
who eventually become her
muses. Nicole Kidman is Ms.
Arbus and Robert Downey
Jr. plays one of her models.
A GOOD YEAR: This
film reunites director Ridley
Scott with his cinematic
gladiator Russell Crowe,
but don’t expect any bloody
battles. Instead, the gentle
film features Mr. Crowe as a
London banker who find he
has inherited at vineyard in
Provence. The pair will get
back to violent business in
American Gangster, a period
Art on a summer Sunday
treatment of insurgents
then and now.
Instead, sit back and
consume first the detailed
research that inevitably con
nects so many confrontations
in the American West. Then
marvel at Blake’s choice of
words, the manner in which
he draws readers into the
past, where they are allowed
a glimpse of the lies, truths,
racism and human desire for
glory that fueled decisions
leading to so much loss of
life.
“Indian Yell” recounts a
dozen significant battles in
the American frontier and,
just as importantly, gives us
a clue as to the mindset of
participants.
Unlike the leaders of the
day, Blake places empha
crime drama scheduled for a
2007 release.
Nov. 17
CASINO ROYALE: After
years of increasingly improb
able adventures, super spy
James Bond is rebooted and
brought back to his gritty
roots. Daniel Craig steps
into the secret agent’s shoes,
becoming the sixth actor to
swig martinis in the series.
TENACIOUS D IN OTHE
PICK OF DESTINY’: A
(sort of) origin story for the
hard-rockin’ acoustic duo,
this comedy follows the D’s
misguided attempts at steal
ing a guitar pick carved from
Satan’s tooth. Seriously.
UfESTYU
Special to the Journal
Here are scenes from the Fine Art Society of Middle Georgia’s sixth annual Summer
Art Show on Sunday at the clubhouse at Eagle Springs. This was a juried show with
cash prizes. There was also a ribbon for Peoples Choice, where viewers voted for
their favorite art. Margaret Mathews won that honor. The Art Show was put together
with Nancy Steinberg at the helm. Edna Garrett, president, handed out the awards.
Mary Ellen Rivera was responsible for the refreshments with the help of members.
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sis on humanity over num
bers. If a general reports an
often exaggerated number
of insurgents killed, Blake
reveals whether ledgers
reflect warriors or women
and children.
And more than once, he
writes, it was not violence,
but rather language difficul
ties or undefined cultural
differences, that resulted in
blood spilled.
In fact, Blake dares to
begin his saga with the story
of a skinny, emaciated, weak
cow that wandered off. The
Sioux saw a convenient, if
not filling, meal; the cow’s
owner claimed an Indian
raid.
And the interpreters of
the day were largely incom
petent.
HAPPY FEET: Hugh
Jackman (again?!) and Robin
William lend the voice talent
to this animated tale of a
penguin who, having failed
to woo with song, becomes
a dancing fool. Unlike that
other penguin movie, nobody
gets eaten by a leopard seal.
FOR YOUR
CONSIDERATION: The
informal troupe responsible
for Waiting for Guffman,
Best in Show and A Mighty
Wind lampoons awards
season with this mock
doc about a film cast and
crew who unexpectedly find
themselves being hyped as
Oscar favorites. Christopher
Guest, Eugene Levy and
Ricky Gervais star.
In the course of its pages,
readers learn of the quirks,
bravery and attitudes of such
leaders as Geronimo and
Cochise, Crazy Horse and
Sitting Bull. Yet Blake also
introduces a soldier here, a
trader there, who earns the
Indian’s trust with honesty
- and then makes it crystal
clear that the Boy General,
George Custer, was fascinat
ed by Indian ways.
There are pages devoted
not only to Custer’s initial
pining for his wife, and also
to his later relationship with
an Indian captive who may
have played a role in how
his corpse was treated at
battle’s end.
Blake’s fascinating account
consistently places readers
smack dab in the middle of
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
battlefields, and his research
and travels inspire him to
proffer reasons as well as
results.
“Indian Yell” is as enlight
ening as it is entertaining
- indeed, it’s a page turner -
although Blake cannot resist
salting his ending with con
troversy by zooming forward
in time to a final page devot
ed to imprisoned Leonard
Peltier.
Affected by past and pres
ent, Blake refuses to play it
safe, writing, “The United
States will never live up to
its glorified billing as a bea
con for humanity so long
as it refuses to legitimately
recognize and respect other
cultures, starting with the
Indian citizens living within
its borders today.”