Introduction
The genre of docudrama is important since it allows the audience to observe real social issues in the form of an entertaining movie. The film titled Cold Journey is an example of a quality docudrama. The movie was released in 1975, and it was directed by Martin Defalco (Ohayon, 2017). According to the official story behind the movie, Defalco was inspired by a story of indigenous children in Canada who were taken away from their families and sent to residential schools. Defalco was emotionally affected by the situation and thus decided to dedicate his movie to the problem. Cold Journey is a film which does not primitively portray the life of indigenous children in Canadian schools. Instead, the movie shows how the unfair treatment of the Canadian authorities of indigenous children can lead to tragic consequences. Thus, the issue of colonialism becomes the main topic explored by the film.
Plot Summary
The plot of Cold Journey is based on the story of how Canadian society tried to assimilate the native children and make them full members of the predominantly white society. The main character of the movie is named Buckley Potawabano, and he is a fifteen-year-old student who struggles to integrate into the school environment (Defalco, 1975). Specifically, the boy who lives in a residential school for the most part of each year is left unable to practice speaking his native language Cree. Buckley does not gain any support from his parents and other adults. In fact, the local elders ridicule him for not having sufficient knowledge of his culture. Buckley is also not accepted by the white peers, which causes him to skip school and drink with the school janitor, who is a native.
Description
The emotions which I experienced when watching the movie ranged from anger to sadness. I was impressed by the portrayal of Indigenous people’s livelihood. At the same time, I was appalled by the events presented in the movie, namely, in the case of the forced attendance of residential schools. I felt discomfort watching Buckley being laughed at and mocked by other native people who did not consider him to be Indian (Defalco, 1975). At the same time, it was also unsettling to watch the experience of Buckley in a residential school and his apparent struggle. Specifically, I saw how unfair the educational system was towards Buckley. Essentially, Buckley was not given a chance, and his concerns were not heard by the school authorities. Instead of providing him with support, they threatened Buckley to put him even in worse conditions.
After watching the movie, I had a clear sense that the educational system in Canada and its approach to residential schools was oppressive. Buckley, as thousands of other native youths, was not given the right to free expression. Buckley was not treated as an individual, instead, he was simply an object which had to be changed to fit into the society of the country (Defalco, 1975). The tragedy of Buckley was that due to the absence of knowledge in his native culture and the lack of desire to pursue conventional education, he experienced an identity crisis. Other indigenous people viewed him as a person who lost his cultural background, while his white peers saw him as an Indian. Such a situation caused Buckley to face an inner conflict and struggle to solve his identity problem. Thus, I consider the movie to be a way for the director to expose the colonial practices of the Canadian authorities.
Analysis
The movie uses a distinct technique of presenting the fictional and non-fictional parts of the plot. First of all, the film features an actual story about Canada’s approach to the schooling of native children and youths. The concept of a residential school is real, and it continues to be used in many countries worldwide. It is clear that the practices of dealing with indigenous populations used in the 1970s in Canada were much less progressive and flexible than today. Thus, the movie demonstrates a non-fictional situation of how native students were treated unfairly by the authorities and were forced to spend their time away from their families. Essentially, the non-fictional part of the movie highlights the main topic of colonialism. School plays a major role in the narrative because it is the main symbol of colonialism. For Buckley, the school is not the place where he goes to receive knowledge but a place where he is subject to oppression. The school tries to make Buckley forget his cultural legacy and become a new person to be able to exist in the white society.
At the same time, the director adds the fictional part to the plot, which manifests itself in several aspects. For instance, the refusal of the natives to teach Buckley their culture and language seems unrealistic. Yet, by slightly exaggerating, the director manages to create a unique character who is conflicted about his identity and wishes to gain cultural knowledge to be recognized by his peers. Thus, by employing a technique which combines fictional and non-fictional, the movie achieves its goal of showing the effects of colonialism on native youths. I found the movie interesting and would recommend it to others.
Conclusion/Evaluation
The movie Cold Journey delivers a message about the implications of the colonial educational system established in Canada and its impact on indigenous children and families. The film is worth seeing because it serves as a reminder of the need to have a more flexible approach to native people when it comes to education. The movie concerns the topic of colonialism which remains relevant to this date.
References
Defalco. M. (1975). Cold journey [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.
Ohayon. A. (2017). Cold journey: A feature on residential schools. NFB Blog. Web.