Susanna White’s Woman Walks Ahead is a lament upon a culture lost in the shadow of colonization. Derived from true events, the film considers painter Catherine Weldon (Jessica Chastain) and her attempt to craft a portrait of one of the last Native American leaders, Sitting Bull (Michael Greyeyes). While Woman Walks Ahead captures the majesty of the Great Plains and the conversational subtleties of two strangers, the film’s own historical context and dependency upon a white savior proves, at times, detrimental.
Immediately following the death of her husband, Catherine’s passion for art is reignited as she boards a train to the Dakotan territories. Quickly implicated as an “Indian-loving” instigator, the painter finds little comfort amongst her own race. A chance encounter with a local, assimilated officer brings her to Sitting Bull’s community, where after much resistance the icon agrees to lend his likeness to Catherine’s craft. However, as the prospect of new, much harsher treaty spearheaded by Agent James McLaughlin (Ciarán Hinds) threatens to starve out the surrounding Sioux and affiliated tribes, Catherine resolves to help preserve Sitting Bull’s fading civilization.
The film is always conscious of the consequences of violence. The narrative concerns itself with the cyclical nature of endless war, inciting clinical misanthropy within the white militants and inadvertently, self-destructive zeal out of the natives. Locusts appear throughout the film, clinging to tribal artifacts as harbingers of evisceration. Unfortunately, this appears to be the only subtle symbol as the film begins to take a more dogmatic and heavy-handed approach to its didactic. The piece still finds strength despite this, but the exceptional performances can only do so much in the face of awkward and tiresome exchanges.
Much of the film’s gravity can be attributed to its stunning cinematography from Mike Eley. A frequent attention to each character’s physical gestures often staves the uninspired dialogue. The scope and beauty of the Great Plains are captured in a marvelous spectacle as blue mountains speckle the horizon and thunderous storm clouds cascade across the sky. However, the awe eventually wears off during the final movement and the rushed conclusion does little to rectify it.
Woman Walks Ahead conjures another strength in its authenticity and concern to elaborate upon the decimation of Native Americans. Ornamental garb is paired with tribal art in almost every frame. In one scene, Sitting Bull details his tumultuous upbringing as he explains a series of illustrations he produced for each year of his life. Ceremony likewise emerges as a recurring topic; the film examines both the quiet preservation of tradition amid aggressive assimilation while simultaneously showcasing more abrasive practices and notions like the Ghost Dance.
Though the piece takes some motions to mitigate this, the problematic white savior tale is still at its forefront. The film wastes little time establish Catherine’s presence will be the catalyst to start a revolution, unconsciously implying the tribes found little value in preservation before the painter’s presence. In its defense, however, the film does at the very least illuminate the repercussions of Catherine’s influence on both herself and those she serves. Still, her ability to involve herself in a cause on a whim and ultimately fleet in a similar fashion almost deflates the purpose, leaving it a husk, albeit a pretty one. The film could have done well to hone in on Catherine and Sitting Bull’s exchanges a bit closer, weaving her gradual actualization of privilege into the conflict at hand rather than presenting it as this abrupt and inherent mechanism.
Woman Walks Ahead is far from a failure, but it is definitely one of A24’s weaker offerings. An up-and-coming cinematographer and an educational prerogative via its subject matter at least provides the film with an avenue for redemption despite its often over-bearing dialogue and problematic savior complex. Regardless, it can still a prove a relaxing aside amid an otherwise high-octane deadCenter itinerary.
