It's incredibly easy to be cynical about this film. After all...it has a plot that we've grown to loath to approach with sarcasm: a white man is captured by a "lesser" society and slowly comes to learn their ways and becomes one of them. But I must keep in mind that in 1970 this plot hadn't been done to death by Oscar-baiting Hollywood liberals. So by its own merits, it accomplishes its story with admirable ability. Richard Harris is an Englishman captured by the Sioux people. He eventually becomes a warrior, a husband, and then a chief by undergoing initiation rituals and various trials by fire. It features admirable acting from all involved. The film claims that the highest care was taken in reproducing Sioux society. So as a piece of anthropological worth, it has at least some merit. Additionally, the film seems less interested in promoting the superiority of a primitive culture and bemoaning their exploitation than telling the story of one man's transformation. This movie is about Richard Harris and the Sioux...not the other way around.
7/10
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