Windwalker is a 1981 Western film directed by Kieth Merrill and written by Ray Goldrup, based on a novel by Blaine M. Yorgason. It stars Trevor Howard and Nick Ramus. The film is set in the pre-colonial Intermountain West, and focuses on the life of a Cheyenne man, who comes back to life to protect his family from Crow warriors and be reunited with his long-lost son. It was filmed in various natural outdoor locations in Utah. Unusually for westerns, all of the characters are Native Americans. Merrill cast Trevor Howard, an English actor, for the role of the aged Windwalker, a decision that stood out in a cast of mostly Native American actors, with authenticity as a main production value.
While Merrill initially thought the film would be his greatest film thus far in his career, he was disappointed with the final decisions his producer made about scoring the film. Merrill gave his director's cut to the American Indian Film Festival, where it premiered in November 1980. Reviews from the time of its release praised its treatment of Native American themes, with at least one negative review that complained about the artificiality of its melodrama. Windwalker was not considered for a foreign language film Oscar because it wasn't possible for a foreign country to nominate it.
Gail Tremblay has used physical film from Windwalker in her artwork, which comments on the unsatisfactory representation of Native Americans in the film.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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