too bad these things are cliches today

Rating: 7/10 (9 January 2004)

Not exactly the most thoughtful work of art, but well executed (still I liked Dances with Wolves' music better, and there were no buffalo).
But while I was watching this film it dawned on me why I am drawn to these types of stories where an old, rich culture is decimated by a new one, simply because the former has outdated technology. If the former is so weak, then what good is it? Honor and discipline? The point is that it is a real community. To me, the culture and spirituality serve one end: effective communication and connection. When two warriers nod to each other, it seems that they understand each other so well they might as well be mind readers. Signs of love between strangers, against the background of quiet toil and discipline all aimed at fundamental survival, take on way more significance than they normally would.
In an increasingly global society, we lack the universal codes needed to relate to each other properly. Religion? Which one? There are way too many, as globalization has demonstrated. It seems the best we have is pop culture, the output of a commercialism which is only an economic game. I don't have the answers. Ideally, everyone would try hard to look for answers, in books, abroad, and each other. It would be the trying and the yearning that counts. Everyone needs toil and discipline in *something*, so that when a gesture breaks that discipline, that gesture would be especially meaningful.
Anyway, the film, as cliche-laden as it was, was still worth it.