Facing the Past in Monkey Beach
By Nelson Maddaloni
Watch Monkey Beach here.
L. Sarah Todd’s first narrative feature, Monkey Beach, is a film that captures the universality of having to confront our past, our inner demons, and the struggles of change. Lisa returns home to her Kitimaat village after spending two years away in Vancouver. She possesses the supernatural ability to communicate with the dead as well as receiving prophetic visions of dread yet to come. The stage is set for a powerful film. Lisa is coming to terms with the death of one of her family members, and she must return to face her past as well as an uncertain future.
This is a beautifully crafted film that highlights the voices of Indigenous Peoples, and enters another masterpiece into the canon of Indigenous filmmaking. It is beautifully shot with a narrative wound so wonderfully tight that one feels in awe of every nuance that the film brings. We’re shown the sheer heartache of the passage of time and the persistence of memory that haunt Lisa and her family. She struggles to express herself, as well as the magic within her to her friends and family, some receptive and some not. She wishes for everything to just be okay and we know from our seats that it cannot always remain so. Our eyes remain glued to the screen, wanting to see how the story progresses and with each passing moment we’re granted access into a world of magic and fate. Sometimes, there is a magic to memory. Coming to terms with the long past and synthesizing it to make a better tomorrow is a difficult spiritual journey, one that is captured so wonderfully in L. Sarah Todd’s feature.
The scenes highlight the beauty of the film. At once this conjures the images of the work of Terence Malick and the earlier works of David Gordon Green, but this is a feature that is all from L. Sarah Todd’s vision. However, the natural splendor of the film reveals a much darker underbelly. There is a great sense of injustice throughout the film. From the character’s having to deal with their life in the village, to having to confront a world hostile to their roots and their way of life. It is the eternal struggle for marginalized people who struggle to justify their very existence. The juxtaposition of natural beauty with societal struggle is staggering. Social injustice thwarts their path to inner peace.
As if it isn’t enough, there is the spiritual sense of injustice. A theme of the film is having to tackle the fate of family. Lisa has lost family throughout this story. Through various visions she discovers that she must embark on a spiritual quest to save the soul of her Brother who is plagued and bogged down with inner turmoil and stress. The result is a narrative of spiritual importance that highlights the lengths we are willing to go to save the people we love and cherish the most. As a result, we are gifted with Monkey Beach. It is a journey worth undertaking, and a film most certainly worth exploring.
Watch Monkey Beach here.