There are gaps here and there, but it provides a fascinating introduction to a corner of film history that has gotten too little attention.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Entertaining and informative documentary on how native people have been portrayed on-screen over the years and how these portrayals have shaped native self-perception and non-native prejudice.
The first-person sections, however, couldn’t be more clumsy or grating, and every time Diamond’s tone-deaf narration starts repeating the obvious, you can feel an eye-opening history lesson turning into a quirky, orbs-glazing travelogue.
60
VarietyJoe Leydon
VarietyJoe Leydon
The tone of Reel Injun is respectfully serious, though well short of angry, while focusing on how the stereotypical depictions of marauding redskins affected the self-images of Native Americans.
40
Village Voice
Village Voice
Combining a road trip from his native Arctic reservation to Los Angeles with an archival cinematic survey, Diamond's treatment of each is perfunctory to the point of inutility.