HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" ......

[Bullwinkle925]

I was eagerly awaiting this from HBO and was sorely disappointed. I expected much more from them. I don't know why they didn't make a mini-series instead of a 2+ hr. film. Too much content to be squeezed into 2 hrs.
I was actually embarrassed in parts where the dialog seemed to be a bit too juvenile (IMHO). The story of 'Wounded Knee' is such a tragic one - I just don't feel as if the treatment of it was as good as it certainly could have been.
I'd welcome any comments from those who watched it as well.

[fishwax]

1. I didn't see it but I'm curious about it

certainly way too much content for a two-hour show ... I didn't even know it was being made ... was it trying to follow the dee brown book, or did it focus specifically on wounded knee?

[Bullwinkle925]

4. I have to say that it did try to stick to the book - but became lost along its

way. I still wish that they had made a mini-series instead.

[LostinVA]

2. I taped ot last night, since I was on the phone talking to someone

That's a disappointment, because HBO tends to do excellent movies. And, it's a compelling subject.

[Bullwinkle925]

6. I agree on both counts.

You might have a different take on it. I'll be curious to get your reaction to it.

[fortyfeetunder]

3. I saw about a half-hour's worth last night

...and figured, I'd rather read the book again...

[Bullwinkle925]

5. So you felt the same, eh?

I stuck it out but was waiting for it to become as good as I knew it could be. Didn't happen.
sigh

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. On the positive side,

it might inspire more people to read the book. The story is not talked about often enough...especially now, when so many minds are focused on current events. But the genocide in the middle east and in Darfur, and the incarceration and torture of innocent people in Iraq are excellent reasons for revisiting this book, and making parallels to try to keep history from repeating itself.

[Bullwinkle925]

9. Absolutely.

I picked up a copy (again - since I had loaned mine out years ago and never had it returned) a few months ago and will be giving it a second read. Clearly, this is yet again another book that * has missed reading.
I'm sure it would be over his head, however, since it invokes a gut-wrenching reaction and empathy for the victims of this holocaust.

[seemunkee]

8. Bad acting and dialog

Disappointing. I've been thinking of dumping HBO and this just reaffirmed that there isn't anything I want to watch on it.

[kwassa]

10. I had no expectations but ended up enjoying it.

I thought also that it would have been better as a miniseries, as it was too crammed. The movie still had a strong and somewhat depressing effect on me. My wife noted parallels with Iraq and an occupying force.

Some of the acting was excellent, some was not. I thought the events were so compressed that the dialogue and acting were made simple, particularly in side characters, to get the amount of story across. The situation with Sitting Bull and his band in Canada was completely unclear. They never showed him in his role in the Wild West show of Bill Cody.

Greatest miscasting: Fred Thompson as Ulysses S. Grant. Fortunately, his part was small.

I noted Dick Wolf, Mr. "Law and Order", was a producer.

[Bullwinkle925]

11. I'm sure what derailed me was the fact that I did have very high expectations.

The book had a very large impact on me. I was expecting the same from HBO's adaptation.

[kwassa]

12. I read it 30 years ago and can barely remember it ....

though I do remember most of the history of these events from there and other places.

[Bullwinkle925]

13. Same here.

I look forward to re-reading it. I don't remember the character of 'Charles' in the book at all. What did reach me was the despicable treatment of all the tribes. Colonization certainly is the one of the worst things that humans do to one another.

[kwassa]

15. Charles Eastman was a real person, though

we looked him up on the web during the show. The only way to watch tv.

[skygazer]

14. That book hit me hard in the gut the first time I read it

I've read it several times since - it's good to remember just what Europeans did to the people who already lived here. So much of history is written from the perspective of the victor - "westward expansion," "Manifest Destiny."

I didn't watch the show - I don't have cable and was skeptical about how they could pull it off in that time.