A generously revealing exploration into the life of Wilfred Buck, an elderly member of the indigenous Cree people of Canada, Lisa Jackson’s engaging film also acts as a spiritual guide to the heavens as it moves between past and present, and between Earth and the stars, aiming to overcome the ghosts of colonisation.
“We are in the process of remaking an age old song…singing, dreaming, praying, talking into existence once again the knowledge of our people,” is the statement at start of the film, an extract from Wilfred Buck’s memoir I Have Lived Four Lives. His complex life is not just the story of a man who has overcome the most terrible and dark moments, but it also a story of how indigenous people have struggled to reclaim lost knowledge, ancient traditions and, crucially, self-respect after hundreds of years of colonialism.
After a challenging upbring and a descent into addiction, Buck rediscovered the cosmological teachings of his people and has transitioned into an irreverent Cree Elder, acting as an educator and spiritual guide for a new generation of indigenous people.
Filmmaker Lisa Jackson, herself a member of the Ojibway people, has crafted a hybrid feature documentary which blends interviews with Buck as he stages events and talks, with re-enactments of Buck as a younger man, all set alongside computer-generated animation of the stars as he talks about how celestial bodies link to indigenous legends and traditions with patterns of stars often linked to animals. The film develops into an engaging and insightful journey through one man’s life with Buck a playful and compassionate protagonist.
Writer/director Lisa Jackson (Biidaaban: First Light) has adapted Buck’s freewheeling memoir (I Have Lived Four Lives), a beat poet’s insider view of colonisation that took Buck from the land to the streets to the stars. In the narration by Brandon Alexis (who plays the younger Buck in the re-enactments) he comments “this is my reality fiction,’” which aptly suits the nature of the film. The blend of verité, archive and re-enactments is designed to reveal what it means to heal and reconnect with Indigenous knowledge.
He adds: “We are in the process of remaking an age-old song…singing, dreaming, praying, talking into existence once again the knowledge of our people.” The film engagingly exemplifies this through footage of Buck and his children setting up an event where he points out and discusses the stars and their importance to Indigenous history, always a playful and encouraging narrator, while also looking back at the more troubling times when addiction dominated his life.
It all amounts to a gently enjoyable film with Wilfred Buck an entertaining and generous guide through his life. The moment of him talking about the stars in terms of their links to the spiritual life of the Cree are thoroughly absorbing, and it is lovely to see him playfully interacting with his adult children as he prepares for events. His life journey has been an often tough one, but he has emerged as a thoughtful and astute representative for the Cree.
Canada, 2024, 97mins
Dir/scr: Lisa Jackson
Production: Door Number 3, National Film Board of Canada
Producers: Lisa Jackson, Lauren Grant, Alicia Smith
Cinematography: Justin Black
Editor: David Schmidt
With: Brandon Alexis, Raymond Chartrand, Ed Azure, Ethan Neckoway, Caine Robinson, Moe McGillivary
