The Last of His Tribe (TV 1992)

The story of Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Indians of California. Befriended by an Anthropologist (Jon Voigt) who is able to speak Ishi's language... See full synopsis »

Director:

Harry Hook

Writer:

Stephen Harrigan

Stars:

Jon Voight, Graham Greene, David Ogden Stiers

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Voight	...	Professor Alfred Kroeber
Graham Greene	...	Ishi
David Ogden Stiers	...	Dr. Saxton Pope
Jack Blessing	...	Tom Waterman
Anne Archer	...	Henriette Kroeber
Daniel Benzali	...	Mr. Whitney
Christianne Hauber	...	Miss Edna Block
Charles Martinet	...	Assistant Museum Director
Carl D. Parker	...	Sheriff Weber
Angela Paton	...	Mrs. Gustafson
Benne Alder	...	Mrs. Whatley
Marie Bain	...	Nurse
Loryn Barlese	...	Ichi's Young Sister
Gilbert Bear	...	Ichi's Father
Lance Brady	...	Reporter #4

Storyline

The story of Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Indians of California. Befriended by an Anthropologist (Jon Voigt) who is able to speak Ishi's language... See full synopsis »

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Plot Keywords:

native american language | museum | psychoanalysis | railway station | shot in the back | 

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Taglines:

They murdered his people . . . stripped him of his dignity. Graham Greene is trapped in a white man's world.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Den sidste kriger

Filming Locations:

Bellingham, Washington, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), River City Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Ishi: The Last of His Tribe (1978)

User Reviews

NOT "true", and an insult to boot

I usually try to avoid overstating my case, but this is probably the worst film ever made. The true story of Ishi is a story of a life well lived and a sensitive ambassador of one culture to another. But this film is so full of falsehoods about Ishi, and clichés about Native Americans, that it should probably be banned. And I have never said that before about any work of art or literature.

Until his encounter with the Saltu (us), Ishi was merely a good citizen (so to speak) of his harassed and harried nation, simply doing what he was supposed and expected to do as a Yana man. Period. After that encounter, he took up his destiny as a bridge between two utterly different cultures and fulfilled it with dignity and competence. He did NOT at any time freak out and run around shouting "No! No!"---what baloney! Almost everyone who knew him commented on the low-keyed, self-controlled manner in which he conducted himself in his strange surroundings. He never lost his cool. Nor did he babble ridiculous Hollywood-Indian clichés about "our Mother Earth", etc., as appears in the film. The most insulting lie in the film is the sequence in which Pope (who was, by the way, certainly not the clownish idiot portrayed here) brings in a prostitute to service Ishi. Actually, Ishi had much too great a sense of dignity to indulge in any such thing, and was always very cool and formal in the presence of women, as his culture demanded.

The portrayal of Kroeber is almost as offensive. The film makes him into a stereotype of the emotionally starved anthropologist who regards Indians coldly as mere objects of study, and allows him to really respect Ishi only after the latter is dead. Again, nonsense. Kroeber did use the kind of language that was common in his day: he wrote that when Ishi made his first acquaintance with Saltu society "he was absolutely ignorant" (of Saltu ways, that is), and used unfortunate expressions like "wild Indian." But everybody knew what he meant. He and Ishi were friends, and Kroeber made it clear that knowing Ishi was one of the great experiences of his life---Ishi, he made clear, not as an object of study but as a warm, generous and gracious human being. There is no evidence that Kroeber's wife Henrietta looked down her nose at Ishi or that she was the racist snob depicted in the film. In fact, as Kroeber's second wife Theodora recorded in her memoirs, Ishi's sensitivity and compassion helped Kroeber greatly in dealing with Henrietta's death. I guess the makers of this film avoided depicting that because it would have interfered with their disorted portrayal of Kroeber as an insensitive lout. (Speaking of Theodora, she wrote two very readable and informative accounts of the life of Ishi, whom she had never met, consulting extensively with her husband. And by the way, these two were the parents of the fantasy writer Ursula K. LeGuinn.)

If only this film had been based on Theodora's writing! This film, I say again, is an atrocity. It makes me so angry that I feel like committing mayhem.