RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Directed by Catherine Bainbridge | Co-directed by Alfonso Maiorana
Canada | 2017 | Documentary | 102 min
Film Source: Kino Lorber
Awards / premier festivals: Sundance -World Cinema Special Jury Award; Hot Docs – Best Canadian Documentary & Audience Award
Sponsor: John Douglas
Also showing Saturday, October 28 at 12:45 PM
“Be proud you’re an Indian, but be careful who you tell.” Robbie Robertson, guitarist and songwriter for the seminal rock outfit The Band, recalls receiving this piece of cautionary advice as a young man. The rollicking and eye-opening Rumble attempts to dismantle the second part of that warning by proudly proclaiming the heritage of the numerous Native American musicians who made significant contributions to the development and popularity of American music. The film was produced by Rezolution Pictures International, an Aboriginal-owned film and television company based in Montréal. Director Catherine Bainbridge’s film (whose credits also include Reel Injun, about the representation of Native Americans in Hollywood films and television), acts as a corrective to years of music history, exploring and reasserting the Native influence across genres and time periods, through assimilated styles, borrowed techniques and shared craftsmanship. It features a range of notable musicians, from Mildred Bailey and Charley Patton to Robertson and Jimi Hendrix, as well as less-heralded but still consequential figures such as session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis and heavy metal drummer Randy Castillo. The film covers the governmental efforts to suppress much of this music and history and the struggles of politically outspoken artists like Buffy Sainte-Marie and John Trudell. The title takes its name from the seismic 1958 number by Link Wray — one of the first songs to pioneer distortion and power chords. The song had a profound effect on rock ’n’ roll, but was also banned from U.S. airwaves for its dangerous, delinquency-inducing swagger — despite being an instrumental track! RUMBLE is the must-see rock-doc of the year. ~SJ
