NZIFF Film Review: "Songs My Brothers Taught Me" (2015).

The Hollywood Reporter called the film "strong notes of hope and of bone-deep identity." This is Songs My Brothers Taught Me. This drama film written and directed by Chloé Zhao, in her directorial debut. The film follows Johnny and his sister Jashuan, who live with their single mother on a reservation. When their absentee father dies, Johnny feels compelled to strike out for a new life in LA, but fears leaving his sister behind.

Zhao initially developed the film at the Sundance Institute workshops. In regards to the film's tight budget, light plotting, and neo-realist style casting, "We're capturing truth - because truth is the only thing we can afford." The production used mostly local residents as actors, and, according to Zhao, 80% of the story depicted is true to the actual life of the young man playing Johnny Winters. The house that Winters lives in is the house that Reddy lived in, and Reddy, also one of twenty-five children to one father, has many of his real family members playing members of his family. In fact, the man shown delivering the eulogy for Winters' father is Reddy's actual father.

The film stars John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Travis Lone Hill, Taysha Fuller, Irene Bedard, and Allen Reddy. Reddy proves a charismatic draw, even if some of the supporting non-actors struggle with naturalistic performances. Reddy, rarely raising his voice above a murmur, takes us on an emotional journey, figuring out his own way forward. The plains go on forever; so, we hope, does hope. Reddy, acting opposite his equally solid cast members, disappears into a role largely based on his own experiences, oozing empathy from his pores. The performances given by the cast reminds us of the dignifying power of work and purpose in human existence, even as it ponders the meaning of life when these things are taken away. A projection of the most organic feelings that ends up as a direct path to the heart of the public.

Songs My Brothers Taught Me's hard-hitting drama is only made more effective through writer-director Chloé Zhao's use of untrained actors to tell the movie's fact-based tale. The film's style, its sense of light and landscape and mood, simultaneously give it the mesmerizing force of the most confident cinematic poetry. It is a little film and its plot takes a familiar path, yet it offers rewards in its peek inside this special world, in the warmth of family, and in its quietly glorious Western scenery. The sort of deep, meaningful film that reminds us why we are so lucky the independent film industry exists in the first place. Cinema that's challenging and offbeat is always in danger of being overlooked. But the film deserves to be seen. Zhao's film serves as a testament for why making the extra effort to tell underrepresented stories matters. A remarkable film in many respects, and Zhao works wonders with a non-professional cast. Bold, heartfelt and, most importantly, unafraid, this is a remarkable film. 

Simon says Songs My Brothers Taught Me receives:

Also, see my review for Paterson.