Smoke signals - short analysis of the movie smoke signals by shreman alexi

Smoke Signals Smoke Signals is basically about a guy named Victor and his relationship with his father or lack there of. It also brings in a lot about Native American reservations and traditions, especially the oral tradition. The custom of story telling is important in Native American tradition and there for prominent in the film. It is used as narration, as a trigger for flash back sequences, and as insight into Thomas and Victors characters. …

…treated Thomas better, the way he should have done his own son. All of these sort of under running problems are spelled out in the flashbacks. These are the ways that the Native American oral tradition plays an important role in the film. It is important in narration, flashbacks, and most importantly in character development. Without the stories and/or flashbacks to define the characters and their history the plot would be much less compelling.