It's easy to make a film like this go wrong, with all of the potential possibilities to be lazy and write these characters and stereotypes. Of course, the film doesn't do that and it's because Chloe Zhao has a real knack for creating profound humanity through the images that represent this type of life, humanity that she infuses her characters with. This is a very special film and this is a director to watch out for.

« Songs My Brothers Taught Me » invites you to discover life in a Native American reservation, namely Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. But definitely not in a superficial way: you will not find yourself on the side of a dusty road buying Indian trinkets and other souvenirs before having a couple of pancakes at the local restaurant and inserting a few coins into a slot machine at the local gambling house. No, this is real life indeed; and by real I mean drab, monotonous, without scope. Not that such a life is not worth living at all : the hero, Johnny Winters, a young Oglala Indian, does experience a few good times: in his final year of high school, in company with his thirteen-year-old sister Joshaun who is very fond of him and naturally with his beautiful girlfriend Aurelia. But apart from social or personal intercourse, there is not much to do or to hope for in Pine Ridge. As far as employment is concerned, now that he is graduated, our young Native American struggles to get by while accommodating his mother and sister. A weak income earned from selling alcohol, not only a menial job but an illegal one into the bargain since drink is banned on the reservation's grounds. A better position is out of the question, the opportunities within a reservation being close to zero.The only hope for him to make a decent living is to get away from his place of birth. To this purpose he plans to accompany Aurelia to Los Angeles, where she is to further her studies. But that will mean leaving Joshaun behind. And the question is: will the sensitive little girl cope with the ordeal? And how will Johnny manage to square the circle?As can be seen, a psychological side adds up to the sociological interest. Also the writer of the script, Chloé Zhao masters this dimension brilliantly. The characters (Johnny, his sister, his mother, the tattooist...) are as well drawn as is the aspect of life in the reservation. And the young Oglala's questions and expectations as well as his moral dilemma are examined in depth. Which makes this film a full immersion not only in the everyday life of a seldom shown environment but also a plunge into the psyche of several of its inhabitants. Very well interpreted by John Reddy as Johnny and the touching Joshaun St. John as his loving little sister, Chloé Zhao's movie could qualify as a masterpiece were it not a few defects: a rather disorganized, improvised approach and one or two tedious passages. But it is a first film after all and that should not be enough to deter you from watching this rare foray into a territory little seen on the big screen, thus getting to know worthwhile people you would be unlikely to meet in the flesh in real life.

This is a stunningly true to life and tender movie. I had just watched Sky, in which Native Americans and their connections with a white woman were portrayed through the lens of a European romantic fantasy about NA life in America. Songs was the opposite - unsentimental, unsparing and filled with beautifully understated acting that let the story breathe. The photography was exquisite - I know that country and found myself longing to be there. The ragged weave of the story was precisely how life is lived by so many of us - no big epiphanies, no smarmed up resolutions, no miracles except for how people can hold fast to love. I thank the film-makers for their deep respect for the people and their recognition of the way the land is the base of hope for far too few of us.

First-time writer-director Choe Zhao is now making the rounds on the indie circuit (garnering a couple of Spirit Award Nominations along the way), with the intriguing Songs My Brothers Taught Me. Somehow she was able to befriend denizens of the insular Pine Ridge Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota and fashioned a coming of age story with members of the local population taking on most of the acting roles.One is struck immediately by the urban influence on the reservation, particularly rap music, which most of the kids and teenagers appear to enjoy profusely. There is of course the sad influence of alcohol which contributes to the overall depressing atmosphere on the reservation--but at the same time, the people there have not given up the Native American customs, which constantly remind them of their ancestors and what was once an intimate connection to the land.John Reddy plays Johnny Winters, a high school senior, who plans on leaving the reservation and seeking his fortune in Los Angeles after he graduates. He lives in a small house with his mother and sister Jashaun. Johnny's father, a man who fathered 25 children from nine women, is not close with Johnny and Jashaun—and early on he's killed in a fire at his home. Community members pay tribute to their fallen neighbor but Johnny doesn't appear to get overly emotional about his father's death.Johnny works for Bill, illegally selling alcohol on the reservation so that he can save enough money to follow his girlfriend, Aurelia, who plans to attend college in California. Bill has a non-native Caucasian girlfriend who expresses a sexual interest in Johnny at one point, but nothing comes of it. Meanwhile, Jashaun is perhaps looking for a father figure and finds one in distant relative Travis, a tattoo and clothing designer who she bonds with. I also shouldn't forget that Johnny's older brother is incarcerated in state prison and both the mother and kids periodically visit him.Zhao's narrative is extremely slow-moving and the characters are virtually all low-key. One has to wonder whether this film could have been better as a documentary. The exciting moments here are really few and far between. Things do perk up a bit when we see Johnny's dream of becoming a boxer shattered when he's pummeled mercilessly during a sparring session with a far superior pugilist. And then there's a moment of violence when tribal gang members beat Johnny up and set his truck on fire in retaliation for an earlier confrontation in which they felt he had "dissed" them.The film closes, suggesting (I think) that Johnny wasn't ready quite yet to leave the reservation. There's a great contrast with Johnny furiously riding a horse with his friends to the next scene where he's talking on his cellphone. In his final narration we see scenes of rodeo and boxing juxtaposed with a traditional Native American ceremony. Johnny notes that his sister has more of an affinity for the traditional culture than he does. Ms. Zhao has done well allowing us a glimpse of this insular world—I just wish there was more of a well developed plot to go along with it.