Silent Tongue

In a tribute, a Rolling Stone reviewer suggested this was the quintessential River Phoenix movie. I disagree, he gives a much better performance in 'My Own Private Idaho' but this story is better written. It's not really a western, though it is set in that time and place we nostalgically yearn for, with stark wide open spaces in hues of tan and brown. There's lots of dust and horses and broken people trying to mend their fragile lives. There's even a snake oil salesman and his son, complete with sideshow and assorted freaks. Richard Harris plays a father who loves his son (Phoenix) so much that he will purchase a wife for his sad and lonely child, but when she dies in childbirth, why not purchase her twin sister from the shifty, snake oil hawker who fathered them? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Phoenix broods over the body of his lost love wrapping her in hides and suspending her body in a dead tree. He will not let her go and her spirit doesn't want to stay. Her soul visits him in visions that become so real to him that he almost shoots himself. He can't or won't do it, to join her would be love, to hold on to her is pure selfishness. Her twin sister knows that the dead are powerful and she agrees to help Harris break the hold his son has on her sister, but then she's outta there. Conceived in rape, she knows that she is a double second class citizen. One, she's a woman, and two she's half white and half native. She has nothing but her wits and a dark opportunity to free herself from her father and his mad schemes. She'll take four horses for her trouble and the hope for a new life. (Even the female actresses, who deliver wonderful performances, are overshadowed by their male co-stars in the marketing of this film.) Although told like a ghost story, this is really a love story about a father's love for his son. Harris will do anything for his child, even fight the apparition of his former daughter-in-law that appears in the form of a wolf. Steeped in native mythology and mysticism this story speaks of ties we create between those we love and those we use. In contrast, the snake oil vendor sees his daughters as commodities. The only love that exited for these lost, little girls was their mother, Silent Tongue, who couldn't even cry out when she was raped by their father. Another victim of his entrepreneurial father, is the twin's half brother, who insists on setting out after his half sister is abducted by Harris, and dragging his father along to do the 'right thing' and rescue her. The entire cast give strong and beautiful performances. It's a crime this is not available in wide screen because the melancholy landscape, is itself, a character in this tale. The film is rife with metaphor and if you want to think and be entertained this is the journey you'll want to take between real love and what poses for the love between us. Even though it is offered in a full screen format it is a good value for the prices that it is offered at. For those who prefer to have nonviolent fare, there are a few scenes including the rape that are inappropriate or upsetting. Overall I didn't know what to expect, but I was surprised and pleased by this complex study of relationships that transcend time and place.

This is an extremely weird movie about a myriad of things, including a man who has a dependance on being married to a bride he purchases and will not allow her tormented soul to rest in peace. It's neither a fantastic movie, nor a terrible one. Something about it is more like a "Twilight Zone" meets "Tales From The Crypt." Honestly, I felt that it hit somewhere in the middle, entertainment wise. Both of the native American women in it are cute, even the one who has half of her face marred for horrific effect. Her natural form is shown at the end dancing in a fire. There's some fancy horse riding, a Wild West sort of side show/carnival in it. This is totally worth watching for anyone who likes strange/bizarre western films. I'd be fine with watching it again. ...If MST3K utilized this, it'd be the best thing in the world.

I found the story interesting and the filming creative and a bit strange (one reason I enjoyed it so much). It's a tale about a man named Prescott Roe (Richard Harris) who buys a woman from Eamon McCree (Alan Bates), the proprietor of a traveling show, to be a wife for Roe's son Talbot (River Phoenix). The woman dies in childbirth as well as the baby and Talbot is despondent and sits beneath a tree in the wilderness where he guards his late wife's body. Her vengeful spirit repeatedly attacks him and demands that he "free" her yet he can't bring himself to honor her requests. Meanwhile, Roe goes in search of the traveling show, once again, in hopes of purchasing the twin sister of his late daughter-in-law, believing she might help his disturbed son let go of the past. But when the McCree refuses his request, Roe kidnaps the girl and they are followed across the frontier by McCree (who is also the father of the twins, conceived when he raped their mother, Silent Tongue) and their half brother, Reeves (Dermot Mulroney). Later, after agreeing to try and help the son for a price, the girl encounters the raging ghost of her sister, which then turns its wrath on her.

SILENT TONGUE is a fascinating example of Sam Shepard's skill as a dramatist. (The 3-star rating is related only to the technical quality of the DVD -- see end of review. Otherwise the film would be 5 stars.) It features superb performances by two great English actors, Alan Bates and Richard Harris, as well as standout performances by Sheila Tousey and Jeri Arredondo as Bates's daughters. Dermot Mulroney and River Phoenix also give memorable performances as the sons of Richard Harris and Alan Bates, respectively. The art direction, equestrian feats, and cinematography are all top-flight. Unfortunately, the Lion's Gate Full Frame 4x3 DVD (May 3, 2005) seems to be the only edition available at the current time. This is especially tragic since it is a 4x3 "pan and scan" extraction from an anamorphic film, so in effect we're only seeing the very center part of Jack Conroy's beautiful photographic work. One would think that Canal Plus (which financed the film) would have made it available on a better-looking blu-ray edition, but that doesn't seem to be the case. My advice is to hold off buying the film until a better edition is available.

I chose this rating because the quality of the movie was very good. It didn't jump or skip around. The color was sharp and was very enjoyable. It was hard at first to find this movie on dvd and only on vhs which is hard to play nowadays. This movie was I think made in 1993 and was made in vhs from what I know and was happy to see it in DVD. Thank you and good luck with your movie selling more on Amazon. Doing a great job!! Susie W.

I ordered it for a friend who wanted it for the " Red Clay Ramblers " blue grass band, who appear as the music on stage, and wrote the score, but I love the story. Richard Harris makes me believe he is a bit simple and crazy.Thankstao

I heard my mother speaking about how difficult it is to find this movie in our local area, I bought this seeing it was the last import in stock & my mother loved the movie. She's already watched it quite a few times already

Iedereen die fan is van River Phoenix (broer van...) moet deze film zeker gezien hebben of in zijn collectie hebben.

E' questo un film non esattamente popolare; tuttavia trovo la qualità del dvd decisamente sproporzionata rispetto al suo costo: trovo infatti quasi inaccettabile che non contenga nemmeno i sottotitoli in inglese. Comunque, il film, di per sé, è introspettivo e interessante, anche e soprattutto grazie alla presenza di River Phoenix.

There are plenty of reviews here which could sway readers into believing this is a terrible film. There is no point arguing about viewers specific personal preferences in any type or genre of cinema, only to say that Sam Shepard is a great American playwright, even before he was a well known actor, and in this film, it appears to me that he was greatly moved when he worked with Terrence Malick on DAYS OF HEAVEN back in the 1970's. Now this is in no way a comparison between this film and any of the great films of Malick, but certainly visually and the way it presents a far from stereotyped vision of the American west, it must be said that this film is wonderful. Shepard has transferred his theatrical background into a travelling carnival, and this is the centre of everything that evolves into this films story. The story? Yes there is a story, but not a conventional one. This film is about grieving, and the madness of grieving and not be able to let go. It is also about revenge and the effect of loss not only on those who have lost someone, but those who inevitably will loose someone because of their actions. And yes, even I, who loves this film agrees with the criticism that Alan Bates' speech is slurred, but after all he is playing a drunken irish snake oil salesman, and it is his form of drunken guilt filled madness that makes his character so unlikeable. Both Richard Harris and the late River Phoenix are brilliant together as father and son. It is Harris' journey into his sons madness that makes this film so emotional. Jeri Arrendondo as the sister of Phoenix's deceased wife deserves special mention also as she is the thread that drives all the other characters actions. Tantoo Cardinal appears all to briefly, especially considering she plays the title character, and the most obvious bow to theatre is the dead wife/ghost played by Sheila Tousey.In the end, like Malicks films, people are just a small part of a landscape, as perfectly presented by a small character credited as the 'the lone man( with wheelbarrow') that appears only twice but at important times during the story.And so finally for this review of such a fine film on DVD I must make the most important point. Correct aspect ratio. For the first time Silent Tongue is presented in the correct widescreen ratio of 2.35:1. In a film about torment figures lost in a landscape this is the most important thing about this DVD you really need to know. Everything else is just personal emotion based interpretations.

J'aurais aimé savoir s'il avait des sous-titres, avant de l'acheter. Il n'en a pas.