I sought out this HBO movie because I just recently watched an episode of "The American Experience" that was all about this same man and his discovery at about 1900 (Ishi: The Last Yahi Indian (#5.8)"). It seems that there was a very small tribe in California that the White folks didn't know about--and their existence was only discovered when the last of them, Ishi, wandered into town! While I am no where as familiar with the story as tom_amity@hotmail.com, I would not consider this 'probably the worst film ever made'. I would be loathe to call ANY film this, actually, and I can think of hundreds of films (such as those of Ed Wood, Ray Dennis Steckler, Arch Hall and Ted Mikels) that are truly among the worst ever made--and "The Last of His Tribe" would not even come close. Perhaps it might be faulted from taking liberties with the true story (and as a history teacher, I hate this), but so have thousands of other films. But when it comes to completely dismissing history, this HBO film doesn't even come close to films like "Pocahontas" or "They Died With Their Boots On" or the VERY anti-Semitic Nazi film "Jud Süß". No, to me, calling this film the worst film ever made just sounds like a lot of hyperbole. I COULD understand many faults he found with the film (especially since the film SHOULD have been based on Kroeber's widow's writings and they did misrepresent Kroeber in some ways), but 'the worst'....no. In fact, if I were to be a filmmaker today, I probably wouldn't even try making a film about Native Americans today. After all, even if you try to get the story right, you'll probably get ripped apart by someone--even if you try to get the story right.
Overall, I enjoyed the film and thought it pretty good. I did think that Graham Greene's zombie-like expressions/behavior did seem a bit odd. While Ishi was not a loud and boisterous guy, in the film he seemed practically catatonic at times. But the essence of Ishi's life with White America came through and the film was entertaining and most enlightening.
By the way, think twice before you see this or have kids see it--the autopsy scenes are a bit vivid.
Overall, I enjoyed the film and thought it pretty good. I did think that Graham Greene's zombie-like expressions/behavior did seem a bit odd. While Ishi was not a loud and boisterous guy, in the film he seemed practically catatonic at times. But the essence of Ishi's life with White America came through and the film was entertaining and most enlightening.
By the way, think twice before you see this or have kids see it--the autopsy scenes are a bit vivid.