As a poet, activist and spoken-word performer, John Trudell is one of the most passionate advocates for American Indian rights.
From the 1969-71 occupation of Alcatraz by the American Indian Movement to the campaign to free Leonard Peltier, convicted of the 1975 killings of two FBI agents, Trudell has fought tirelessly for fair treatment for his people.
Assembling an impressive collage of newsreels, live performances and interviews with admirers, “Trudell” delivers a fascinating account of its subject’s most turbulent crusades.
But the man who calls Western civilization “the great lie” and once compared Christopher Columbus to Osama bin Laden deserves more daring and objective scrutiny than this overly reverent tribute.
No one in the film has a bad word to say about Trudell, despite his 17,000-page FBI dossier; and by the time Robert Redford assures us that meeting him is not dissimilar to meeting the Dalai Lama, you may feel like all this worship does not do justice to an unusually stormy and complicated life.
** 1/2 | “Trudell”
NOT RATED|1 hour, 20 minutes| DOCUMENTARY|Directed by Heather Rae; written by Russell Friedenberg; directors of photography: Gilbert Salas and Rae. |Opens today at Starz FilmCenter.