prepared by Mike Barshis
1991, Running time: 114 minutes
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Written by Brian Moore
Based on the novel by Brian Moore Cinematography: Peter James
Music: Georges Delerue
Produced by Robert Lantos, Sue Milliken, and Stephane Reichel and
a consortium of Alliance Communications / Goldwyn / Australian Film Finance
Corporation [au] / Samson Productions / TÈlÈfilm Canada
Filmed on location in Canada and France
A joint Canadian-Australian production with no Hollywood money involved
Lothaire Bluteau - Laforgue
Aden Young - Daniel
Sandrine Holt - Annuka
August Schellenberg - Chomina
Tantoo Cardinal - Chomina's wife
Billy Two Rivers - Ougebmat
Lawrence Bayne - Neehatin
Harrison Liu - Awondoie
Wesley Cote - Oujita
Frank Wilson II - Father Jerome
Francois Tasse - Father Bourque
Jean Brousseau - Champlain
Yvan Labelle - Mestigoit
Raoul Trujillo - Kiotseaton
James Bobbish - Ondesson
Denis Lacroix - Taratande
Marthe Turgeon - Laforgue's mother
George Pachanos - Iroquois leader
Linlyn Lue - She-manitou
For a full cast list, including all the Indian cast and crew members, go the Black Robe on the Internet Movie Database.
This is a story about a French missionary, Father Laforgue(Lothaire Bluteau), who in 1634 sets out on a 1500 mile journey with a group of Algonquin Indians who have agreed to take him by canoe to an already established Huron mission. They begin the journey in late fall and the hope for survival seems slim. A young colonist, Daniel(Aden Young), convinces Champlain to let him accompany Laforgue. Daniel says that he wants to go "for the greater glory of God," but he is actually just bored with the settlement and wants to find some adventure. Much to the dismay of Father Laforgue, Daniel falls in love with the daughter of the Algonquin Chief Chomina(August Schellenberg), Annuka(Sandrine Holt), and begins to accept the Indian way of life. He also begins to question Laforgue and his mission to convert Indians to Christianity. In what I believe to be the crucial scene of the film, Daniel tells Laforgue that the Indians have an afterlife of their own where the souls of men hunt the souls of animals in the forest at night. Laforgue tells Daniel this is childish and Daniel responds, "Is it any harder to believe than a paradise where we all sit on clouds and look at God?"
The Alqonquins eventually leave Laforgue behind and tell him to go on alone. Daniel then takes the last canoe and follows Annuka, leaving Laforgue standing on the shore alone. Chomina decides that they must keep their promise to Champlain to take Laforgue to the Huron mission and they go back to get Laforgue. Just before they find him the Algonquins are brutally attacked by a band of Iroquois who kill Chomina's wife and everyone else except Laforgue, Annuka, Daniel, Chomina, and Chomina's young son. They are all taken prisoner and brutally beaten. Through Annuka's selfless cleverness the four of them, minus the boy, manage to escape and continue on towards the Huron mission. Chomina fulfills his death dream and dies on an island he has seen in his dreams for years. Laforgue wants to baptize him, but he doesn't, instead letting him go to meet the She-manitou of his people's belief. In Chomina's dream, "The blackrobe[Laforgue] walks alone," so Annuka and Daniel take him to near the Huron mission and leave him presumably to go back to Annuka's people. Daniel wants to go with Laforgue, but Laforgue tells him "We have taken everything she has," you must go with her.
Laforgue finally reaches the Huron mission to find an old priest on the verge of death and a village stricken with disease. He convinces the Huron that if they become baptized, they can ask for Jesus' help to make thm well. He baptizes most of them, and then the film ends with a footnote saying that 15 years later, the Huron were massacred by the Iroquois because they accepted Christianity and stopped fighting their enemies.
This is an excellent film when it come to ethnographic validity. The ritual and customs of the Indians as they are depicted are accurate as far as we know. When the characters are captured by the Iroquois and they are made to run the gauntlet of the warriors, this was an actual custom by some tribes when they captured enemies. The clothing, tools, and other materials are also accurately depicted for the time. The practice of the Algonquins dividing up into smaller bands and going to winter hunting grounds was common among many tribes as well. Since the environment was less hospitable in the winter, it could sustain fewer people in the same area, so small bands would live together, sometimes having three or four different hunting grounds that they would rotate going to on a yearly basis.
The main problem that I have with this movie when it comes to accuracy is the language. The Algonquins and Montaignais speak Cree and the Iroquois and Huron speak Mohawk. Cree is in the Algonquin language family, but it is different enough to be a separate language. The Algonquins probably could have gotten along speaking with the Montaignais, but they would not have spoke exactly the same language. It is reasonable for the Iroquois to speak Mohawk since the Mohawk were one of the five nations of the Iroquois, but the Huron most certainly would not have been speaking Mohawk, though Huron is in the same language family. Also the French speak English, which is something we have to expect I guess since the movie was made for an English speaking audience and it might not have been quite as effective if the whole film was subtitled.
This film is different from others we have seen in its portrayal of Indian-white interaction. We have two central white characters in this movie; Daniel and Laforgue. It is interesting to see how they respond differently to living with the Indians. Laforgue is set in his beliefs and has a main goal of converting them to Christianity. His transformation of beliefs is a slow one that takes place gradually over the whole movie. By the end he is questioning his faith and only baptizes the Huron tribe because he thinks it might give them a chance to live and they ask him to. He has changed his view from that of the old priest that has been living at the mission, which was to convert the Indians for the sake of Christianizing as many people as possible, to a view of baptizing the Indians because he loves them and thinks that it might help. He even questions the old priest and his motives by asking him, "Don't you think it is better if the Indians learn about the faith before choosing to accept it?"
Daniel, on the other hand is quick to accept the Indian way of life and question his belief in the Christian way of thinking. This may of course be solely because he has fallen in love with Annuka, but he seems to see the Indian beliefs as just as valid as Laforgue's. This is demonstrated in the scene where Daniel confronts Laforgue about the Indians having an afterlife of their own. He never seems sure of what he believes, though. By jumping into the Indian way of life without learning more about it, Daniel seems to have gotten in over his head and in the end he asks to go with Laforgue, maybe finally being a believer, or maybe realizing that he is not cut out for the rough life of the Indians. His purpose in the film seems to be the cultural mediator. We have Laforgue on one hand representing the white side and the Indians on the other side with Daniel in between sympathizing with both sides.
One thing that was impressive about this film is the way that it is not stereotypical in its portrayal of the Indians. More than just about any other film, this movie portrays the Indians as they were. It gives true depth to the Indian characters, especially Chomina, whose character was just as central to the movie as Laforgue. Overall, this is an excellent film, both as an entertaining movie with an interesting story and as an accurate portrayal of early white contact with Native Americans.
Black Robe on the Internet Movie Database http://us.imdb.com/cache/title-exact/18996
Review. Rita Kempley. Washington Post, November 8, 1991.
Review, Frank Maloney, 1991. Rec.arts.movies.reviews
Review, Roger Ebert, 1991, Chicago Sun Times, 1991, http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1991/11/678497.html
Review, Brian Johnson, 1992, http://us.imdb.com/Reviews/12/1228
Review, John Schuurman, 1996. Rec.arts.movies.reviews
Related Materials
Father Jean de Brebeuf's Instructions to the Missionaries who were to work among the Hurons.
Ste. Marie among the Hurons gives historical background on the mission to the Hurons represented in the film.