Skins

Chris Eyre's second film, based on the 1995 novel by Adrian C. Louis, is a wrenching departure from his empowering breakthrough debut, Smoke Signals. The story of two Sioux Indian brothers, Skins is set against an unsparing portrait of life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where--according to staggering statistics glimpsed on a television news report--the unemployment rate is 75 percent, and life expectancy is 15 years less, while death from alcoholism is nine times greater, than the national average. Putting a human face on these devastating numbers, the film stars Eric Schweig as Rudy, a Pine Ridge cop, with Graham Greene in a fierce and heartbreaking performance as his alcoholic older brother Mogie. Although liquor sales are forbidden on the reservation, there are stores just over the Nebraska state line that cater to Mogie and others on the rez. Driven by rage and frustration, Rudy turns vigilante, targeting the firewater purveyors frequented by his brother, with somewhat predictably tragic results. Still, the performances are authentic, the rage is palpable, and the final image of Mount Rushmore is haunting. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)