Review: Barking Water (2009)

[Scott Mendelson]

Barking Water
2009
80 minutes
Not Rated

by Scott Mendelson

One can't help but feel like a bully for picking on a film like
Barking Water. Shot on what surely was a shoestring budget; this third
feature by writer/director Sterlin Harjo (whose previous film, Four
Sheets to the Wind, won the 'Special Jury Prize' at the 2007 Sundance
Film Festival) is basically a tone poem concerning a dying Native
American man as he heads on a final road trip of potential redemption
and peace. This is obviously a labor of love for all involved, but
you've seen variations on this story many times before. Barking Water
does little to differentiate itself from the pack.

A token amount of plot - Frankie (Richard Ray Whitman) is a Choctaw
Indian who is at last succumbing to disease and old age. But before he
departs this Earth, he convinces his friend and occasional lover Irene
(Casey Camp-Horinek) to drive him to see his estranged daughter, so
that he may make amends for sins past and meet his grandchild for the
first time. Although Irene is reluctant as their friendship ended
years ago on bad terms, she eventually agrees to soothe her own guilt,
and their friendship is renewed as they embark on one final adventure
together.

The rest of the film unfolds basically as you'd expect it to. There
are long, dialogue-free scenes of characters simply watching the road
and the scenery around them (often constructed as music-video style
montages), there are encounters with colorful locals, and there are
moments of shared pain and reconciliation. There is quite a bit of
atmosphere to this film, but it's difficult to disguise the fact that
very little happens.

I cannot go on at length about favorite moments or favorite dialogue
because there are very few incidents and not a lot of dialogue. The
majority of the film takes place in a single moving automobile, and
much of that time is spent in quiet reflection. Again, the picture
attempts to be a tone poem, but the film fails to define itself past
its well-worn narrative hook. For much of its length, it is basically
a filmic road trip through rural Oklahoma.

To be fair, the acting is more than adequate, and Richard Ray Whitman
is genuinely noteworthy. He has an incredibly detailed face, something
suggesting a colorful James Bond villain. Also, the film is not overly
sentimental, so the moments where the emotion does push through feel
earned and not cheap.

Barking Water is not a bad film by any definition, merely a relatively
uninvolving one. The final moments have a certain power, but then it
is difficult not to be moved by the closure on a long and storied
life. Unless you are a fan of Native American cinema, I cannot truly
recommend seeing Barking Water. It may be a noble failure, but that
does not make it a success.

Grade: C+