Marie Wilcox is a woman in the later years of her life and, in this way, she is also the end of a cultural chapter as she is the last fluent speaker of the Native American language of the Wukchumni. Some time ago, Marie decided that she would write down all the words and started work on a Wukchumni dictionary, so that the language had a better chance of continuing after she is gone. This film interviews her and her family on this subject.
There is a refreshing lack of white, or middle-class guilt in this short film, which is not to say that it is not deserved, but more that the makers made a very positive decision that this is a personal story and, although there is a bigger picture – to bring it in too much would risk overwhelming this aspect of it. As a result the film manages to link us to this, but give the loss of culture a much more human face – one we can easily feel for and understand. Marie and her family are warm and cheerful, and she is a good interviewee in this short – as indeed is her daughter. Between them they draw us into this family, so that we become engaging in who they are. For the most part the compilation of the dictionary is presented almost as a hobby, but gradually it becomes much more than that.
There is only really one moment where the cheerful Marie lets the emotion of the situation get to her a bit, and one wonders if the work of making the dictionary is partly helping her deal with the fact that she is the last of her culture (to a certain extent). This reserved approach is nicely played – okay big flamboyant emotion may have been more effective, but less honest to her. As it is, the film is well put together, with clean images, good sound, and honest and real to- camera interactions. I found it quite moving because I liked Marie and also understood the feeling of loss that will come with her death – not only to her culture but to her as well since she is the last person to really carry this language with her. I think the film had scope to explore that sense of culture and identity a bit more, but even as it was it engages, contextualizes and moves the viewer.
There is a refreshing lack of white, or middle-class guilt in this short film, which is not to say that it is not deserved, but more that the makers made a very positive decision that this is a personal story and, although there is a bigger picture – to bring it in too much would risk overwhelming this aspect of it. As a result the film manages to link us to this, but give the loss of culture a much more human face – one we can easily feel for and understand. Marie and her family are warm and cheerful, and she is a good interviewee in this short – as indeed is her daughter. Between them they draw us into this family, so that we become engaging in who they are. For the most part the compilation of the dictionary is presented almost as a hobby, but gradually it becomes much more than that.
There is only really one moment where the cheerful Marie lets the emotion of the situation get to her a bit, and one wonders if the work of making the dictionary is partly helping her deal with the fact that she is the last of her culture (to a certain extent). This reserved approach is nicely played – okay big flamboyant emotion may have been more effective, but less honest to her. As it is, the film is well put together, with clean images, good sound, and honest and real to- camera interactions. I found it quite moving because I liked Marie and also understood the feeling of loss that will come with her death – not only to her culture but to her as well since she is the last person to really carry this language with her. I think the film had scope to explore that sense of culture and identity a bit more, but even as it was it engages, contextualizes and moves the viewer.
