#songs my brothers taught me
Starring John Reddy and Jashaun St. John
Directed by Chloe Zhao
The film follows Johnny Winters (Reddy) and his younger sister Jashaun (St. John) as they navigate life on their reservation after the sudden death of their absentee father. Johnny bootlegs alcohol in order to provide for his family, but he plans on escaping to Los Angeles with his girlfriend. After finding out Johnny plans to abandon her, Jashaun is heartbroken, seeking friendship in a tattoo artist and former convict named Travis. As Johnny begins fighting with rival bootleggers, his urgency to escape intensifies. However, Jashaun is still struggling with her impending loneliness. Johnny must decide if he should escape the life-sucking rez (what they call the reservation) and leave his sister completely vulnerable, or if he should stay back and raise his sister.
Johnny is in constant battle. He’s repeatedly faced with conflicts and dilemmas throughout the film. Primarily, he must choose between a better life with his girlfriend in Los Angeles and the safety of his sister. But we also see Johnny struggle with his bootlegging. He needs the money to provide for his family, but he also understands how getting caught and incarcerated will destroy his future. On top of this internal strife caused by self-interest, he also sees how alcoholism plagues their community and ruins lives. In one scene, Johnny walks through a home full of crying, young children on a delivery to a negligent mother. The viewer witnesses Johnny’s struggle as he realizes his role in the destruction of his community. He also gets caught up in a turf war, only causing more external pressure. Johnny’s pastime as a boxer symbolizes his constant internal fighting. In the one match we see, Johnny loses, perhaps indicating he’s losing the battle against his own woes. We also see his teaching Jashaun how to box, advising her to protect herself and run from people bigger than her. This interaction reveals his hopes for his sister. Johnny wants her to escape, so she never has to suffer as he does.
Without Johnny, Jashaun would have to grow up too fast. At the start of the film, she is completely innocent. When Johnny is selling alcohol in another room, Jashaun is childishly finger painting, completely oblivious to her brother’s actions. As the film progresses, she begins to lose this innocence. She tries a cigarette, the thing that killed her father, while wearing a fake mustache. While the mustache adds comedic relief, it’s also symbolic for how she is forced to grow up too soon. Jashaun begins hanging out with a friend who dresses scantily, lies about her age, and takes Jashaun to concerts with alcohol. We also see Jashaun try on makeup when she’s alone. Evidently, with Johnny’s increasing absence, she is being thrown into adulthood too quickly.
However, this isn’t always portrayed as a bad thing. She essentially becomes a caretaker. We see Jashaun collect and throw away the empty cans and bottles her mother and brother have littered their home with. In this way, she is cleansing their life and environment of alcohol’s impact. She helps Travis with his business, offering her assistance with bookkeeping. Although he is her elder, Jashaun is keeping him out of trouble. After he is sent back to prison, Jashaun cleans up Travis’ house, bringing her friend with her. The friend just wants to goof around and play, but Jashaun refuses, focusing only on helping Travis. The disparity between the girls’ behavior in this scene highlights Jashaun’s personal growth and maturity.
I picked up on some racial themes in the film. Right in the beginning, we see a poster showing all of the “hometown heroes” from the characters’ area. Every single person on the poster is white, illustrating how the narratives of the people on the rez have are completely overlooked by the white community outside. At the rodeo, a white emcee explains how America is the greatest nation because of freedom and opportunity. We see how the speech is well received by his largely white audience, but the children of the rez aloofly cling to fence. The “American dream” imagery the emcee is trying to elicit doesn’t hold true for these kids.
The viewer feels a great deal of empathy for the protagonists. The camera work is shaky, making us feel as though we’re there with Jashaun and Johnny. Also, the narrative is driven by minute personal interactions, giving us a whole understanding of the characters’ emotional state.
This film is, above all, gorgeous. The writing and storyline hold strong, but the beautiful great plains setting is really what makes it great. The main fault I see in Songs My Brothers Taught Me is the acting. Many of the cast are new to the big screen, and it really showed. But while their performances fall short, this movie is still worth a watch.
17/20
