What it’s about
At Pine Ridge Indian reservation, a bleak, impoverished community where drunkenness and drug abuse are rampant, two Native American brothers lead very different lives: the younger one, Rudy (Schweig), is an upstanding police officer weighed down by the degradation of his people; the older sibling, Mogie (Greene), is one of several town drunks. Though estranged, a series of events forges the way for a sort of reconciliation between the two.
Why we love it
Chris Eyre’s deeply affecting “Skins,” adapted from a novel by Adrian C. Louis, is a small but potent film about the complex ties that bind families, and an unblinking look at the dire conditions of reservation life. Among a solid cast, actor Graham Greene gives a towering performance as Mogie, a hard-luck case in the advanced stages of alcoholism. Even though his character is perpetually cranky, unkempt and irresponsible, Greene still manages to win our sympathy and compassion no small feat.
Graham Greene, Eric Schweig, Lois Red Elk Chris Eyre