Thunderheart: The 1992 Film's True Colors

The 1992 movie Thunderheart directed by Michael Apted is a must see movie. The movie takes place on a Native American reservation, where a murder has taken place. Val Kilmer plays the main character Ray Levoi, who is part Native American himself. Ray does not want to reveal that he has Native American blood in the beginning but soon changes his story and does not want to reveal that he has white mans blood. The movie Thunderheart is full of symbolism from the beginning to the end and there are many different ways to look at what the symbols mean.

Ray Levoi wears a pair of Ray ban sunshades in the beginning of the movie, but he trades them for a stone to the Sioux chief grandpa Reaches. This pair of sunglasses was covering Ray's eyes and is blocking him from seeing the truth about the Sioux tribe. When Ray removes the sunglasses, he begins to see the truth about the murder and about the white man. The removal of the sunglasses symbolized that Ray was opening his eyes for the first time to see his true heritage.

In the beginning of the film, Ray was well dressed in a suit and tie, but as the movie progressed, Ray slowly downsized his attire form very formal to very informal. First Ray lost his Jacket to his suit, and then off came the tie and finally the suit is replaced with a T-shirt and blue jeans. This attire change symbolizes that Ray is slowly changing from an uptight American FBI agent to an average Sioux cop who wants to find out the truth and help his tribe.

The number three is seen several times throughout the movie. Ray has three days to solve the murder investigation, there are three deaths in the movie, Ray meets a three-legged dog, Ray has three visions, and at the end, Ray comes to a set of three roads. The number three symbolizes the beginning, middle, and end of poverty for the Sioux tribe.

It is known that seeing an owl in the middle of the day is a symbol that someone is going to die. An owl frightens Ray during the day and that night he finds Maggie Eagle Bear dead at the mine site. The owl is a nocturnal bird but is sometimes seen during the daylight hours symbolizing when something terrible is going to happen. The Owl also symbolizes wisdom and knowledge.

Ray has three visions in the movie. The visions helps Ray figure out the murder case and also helps him to find out that he is a true Native American. Ray's visions symbolized that ray did indeed have Native American blood in him and he was slowly grasping the reality that he was not just a white man but also a true Native American.

At the end of the movie, Ray is sitting at the crossroads. The crossroads symbolized that Ray must make a choice he must turn left or right. Ray has to decide whether he will continue to be a Sioux or return to his old way of life as a white man.

There are many twist and turns Throughout the movie Thunderheart. Many decisions must be made. The movie shows that when a tribe unites they will be protected and will not be run over. Symbolism is a unique way to show the viewers certain beliefs and ideas.