Review of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Yes, this is a tragedy, some of the saddest historical events ever to take place, so those who seem to miss typical western action have really got it all wrong. But sadly the makers of this film also have got many things wrong or not correct. First of all, the people which story is being described, are not Sioux but Lakota, Dakota or Nakota. Sioux is a term coming from French Canadian and used by other native peoples, and means enemy. Ohíye S'a; or Charles Eastman, who the film makers chose to tell the story through, unlike in the book, was a Santee Dakota. Thathanka Iyotake or Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota, and Mahpiya Luta or Red Cloud, an Oglala Lakota, are presented as a stubborn and arrogant old men, far from leaders they were. These nations consist of so many different groups, but are not ever mentioned or described in the movie, and the massacre at Chankpe Opi Wakpala or Wounded Knee itself is merely a small side event in the tale. Unphan Gleska, or Spotted Elk, also known as Bigfoot, a leader of the Miniconjou Lakota, that were the main victims in the massacre, is presented as nothing more than a frozen corps, just a remake of the perhaps most famous picture from after the massacre. Yes, the through going style of presenting characters in old style photo is a good move, but in this case it bites it's own tale. Also missing, the US cavalry present was the 7th, which also got beaten in the Battle Of The Greasy Grass, also known as Little Big Horn. The bloodbath was the revenge for Custer, also not found worth mentioning. Yes, it is supposed to be a film drama, and dramas need dramatizing, but when it's based on history and a fantastic book, there's a limit to how far from reality one can move. In this case, it's probably always within good intentions, but so much is missing and presented in a wrong manner, so that it borders on to disrespect, not too unlike the disrespect shown to the proud peoples of the plains back when this history took place. It's a wounded knee but the body is missing. (Sorry for not writing the names with correct letter types, but the IMDb system doesn't allow it).