There are a hundred adjectives I could use to describe the attitude of this film, but the most apt would be “seventies.” Anti-establishment yet not idealistic, there is an intense anger yet a worldly resignation, a brutality and yet pronounced levity. A genocide-comedy, but not a satire like “The Great Dictator” or a humanist ball of saccharine like “Life is Beautiful,” “Little Big Man,” like its lead character, is too busy moving forward to declare its point of view. The orignal sin of the United States of America is so shocking and barbaric that it is no wonder we spend so little time thinking about it. Our collective sublimination of the Indian Genocide would possibly be considered psychologically healthy if they were, indeed, completely extinct. The poverty and alcohol addiction in today’s dwindled population adds and extra “fuck you” for good measure. This would make a great double feature with “Barry Lyndon.”
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Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.