Violent protests, the Mohawk Nation, Oka, Quebec, the police, the army and a killing all make for a colourful and eye-opening background for this compelling “coming of age” story.
The background story of Beans is true and a familiar one, historical in Canadian history. The town of Oka wants to expand its municipal golf course and in doing so will take over an Indigenous burial ground in an ancient pine forest. The Mohawk Nation begins to protest and both the town and the nation escalate their fight into barricades, violence, tear gas, shootings and the killing of a Quebec police officer.
Beans, played by Kiawentiio Tarbell, is Mohawk and is on the verge of becoming a teenager. She is innocent, sweet and always smiling; however, her transition and challenges from being a pre-teen to a teen is heightened by the Oka uprising and the violence surrounding her and her family. Beans applies to get into a prestigious private school and at the same time tries to gain acceptance from her parents and older teenagers in the nation who tell her she needs to toughen up and stand up for herself.
Writers Tracey Deer and Meredith Vuchnich do a masterful job at intertwining real life footage of the Oka uprising in 1990 with the reenactment of a true-life story from that period. The story is relevant and timely as our present day society deals with the right to protest, Indigenous lands and burial grounds, and the open racism between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Deer also directs and does an excellent job working with Beans as she begins her journey from innocence, naivety and vulnerability into her teenage years and her heightened awareness of who she is as a person and how she deals with the social influences around herself.
The environment of being Mohawk and interacting with non-Indigenous people and the Quebec police brings out the worst in societal relations and directly affects the maturity and choice making Beans has to make. Some of her challenges are predictable insofar as they deal with her sexuality with boys, dressing provocatively, drinking, stealing, swearing and dealing with pain. Even though we have seen this story before, the preciousness and innocence of Beans captures our hearts as we ride this journey with her.
This award-winning film is compelling to watch both from a historical point of view as well as a human interest coming of age story. Despite the predictability of Beans’ journey, the performances of Tarbell and her character’s mother, portrayed by Rainbow Dickerson, deserve accolades and will keep you wanting to see more.
From an emotional point of view, I was very much taken with the story and how it was told through historical footage and present-day reenactment. From an analytical perspective, I found the film to be a bit too predictable, even though I loved going along for the ride.
Tarbell’s performance alone will capture your heart and keep you mesmerized from beginning to end. For all of these reasons, I highly recommend this film and give it three out of five tugboats.
Beans is screening during Powell River Film Festival at 12:30 pm on Sunday, March 6, at the Patricia Theatre.
Stephen J. Miller is a producer and creative writer in feature films and television, and past owner of repertoire movie theatres.
