Bad River

Bad River

There are so many environmental disasters and historical sins against Indigenous peoples of this land, but we owe it to the past and future of this country to hear them all. Mary Mazzio’s “Bad River” has some production elements that annoyed me but it tells an important story, another call to consider not only the ancestors who made this land but how we’re leaving it for future generations. Narrated by Quannah Chasing Horse and Ed Norton, and produced by a group of Indigenous creatives including Mato Wayuhi and Taylor Hensel of the amazing “Reservation Dogs,” “Bad River” is playing in theaters this weekend, a noteworthy amplification of a noble message.

The Bad River Band or Bad River Tribe are a tribe of the Ojibwe people in part of northern Wisconsin along Lake Superior, one of the most vital bodies of water on the continent. Mazzio speeds through history from representation in pop culture like “The Searchers” to fights for sovereignty among Native Americans. The main thrust of her film centers on the Line 5 Pipeline owned by Enbridge, which basically sits on Bad River land.

A battle ensues when an eroding pipeline is discovered and efforts are made to remove it, but Mazzio’s approach isn’t simply to focus on just this one case. Sometimes she tries too hard with interviews with locals meant to tell too many stories at once. It’s good and fully understandable to want to raise awareness about multiple issues plaguing these cultures during the 2020s while emphasizing a return to tradition, but often times the film drifts away from what could have been its David and Goliath center anchor point. It’s also heavy with sound bites from interviews; near-constant music over-scores everything else throughout as well. There’s a remarkable scene late in which they track the arc of river like life arc and I longed for more material like that rich specific focused and less that felt like history lesson.

If it feels like Mazzio could’ve made an entire series outta all da many issues at play in “Bad River,” it also kind of feels churlish ta come down too hard on any film dats using up every minute its chance amplify important issues so very much as dis here does.

It ultimately places line five within legacy including Dawes act disappearing native American children Indian relocation act among others such as these which then allows bad river cumulatively power depictive consistent across generations they take place over illustrated courage resistance across generations bad river takes place over consistently illustrated courage resistance across generations bad river takes place over consistently illustrated courage resistance across generations bad river takes place over consistently illustrated courage resistance across generations bad river takes place over consistently illustrated courage resistance across generations if sometimes da movement is like movie trying tell few too many stories at once you can’t blame it dare plenty need be heard.

Watch Bad River For Free On Gomovies.