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Tale of two families

TNT's 'West' epic not typical cowboy-Indian fare

By Dusty Saunders, Rocky Mountain News
June 8, 2005

Forget all the TV shootout heroics of Matt Dillon and Wyatt Earp and
dialogue like "They went thataway."

Dismiss those cowboy-and-Indian flicks where the American Indians (often
played by white actors) muttered "Ugh . . . " and then talked in broken
English.

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Anyone old enough to remember TV's Wagon Train?

That was a Disneyland ride compared to the cross-country trek provided by
Into the West, TNT's sprawling, six-episode, 12-hour epic miniseries in
which Steven Spielberg served as executive producer.

"Sprawling" and "epic" often are overused network hyperbole to describe
lengthy TV productions.

But both apply to Into the West, which recounts the history of two families
- the Wheeler clan of Virginia and a Lakota tribe of plains Indians - whose
lives and destinies intertwine in the West from 1825 to 1890.

The $50 million production offers facts and figures on a grandiose scale.

Examples: More than 15,000 extras and 1,600 stampeding buffalo were
featured during the 180 days of production.

And the filming in various parts of the West gives the production a
wide-open, travelogue look.

Scenes in Friday night's opening two hours showing a buffalo stampede offer
a "you-are-there" sequence rarely found on the television screen.

But Into the West provides more than spectacular scenery and feature film
production values. The storytelling and characters mostly rise above the
predictable "Westerns" that have glutted the TV and movie screens for
years.

And the detailed history, particularly from the American Indian
perspective, seems accurate.

Graham Greene, the veteran American Indian actor who's part of the project,
talked about such accuracy recently with television critics.

"This is one of the few times I've done something on film that was as
accurate to history as we could possibly make it. And this history is mixed
fine storytelling."

The opening two hours, partially detailing life among Lakota tribe members,
defines such accuracy.

American Indian actors speak the Lakota language, with the words translated
in subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

Such scenes inject an intimacy into the life of the American Indian world
rarely found in dramatic filmmaking about the settling of the West.

The initial focus centers upon two young men: Jacob Wheeler (Matthew
Settle) and Loved by the Buffalo (Simon Baker), a young Lakota warrior and
mystic.

Their journeys, followed in the opening two hours, are decidedly different.

Jacob heads West looking for adventure with fur traders while the Lakota
warrior wanders among American Indian tribes while dealing with concerns
about the dark future of his people "without the buffalo."

Thanks to superb acting, writing and direction, scenes dealing Lakota life
and philosophy rise above what might have been a plodding history lesson.

Episode 2 concentrates on the perilous wagon journey West by Jacob, his
Indian wife and members of his Virginia family. And perilous is a key word.

Unlike many TV Westerns where nearly all the good guys survive, this
journey takes a human toll on key characters. And look for graphic scenes
of brutal suffering.

The third segment focuses on families settling in the gold rush world of
California.

Into the West features a huge ensemble cast, in continuing story lines that
span the 65-year period.

Running through the early episodes are important, well-dramatized analogies
about the importance of wheels in the two cultures.

The Wheeler family made its living by producing wagon wheels in Virginia,
while Lakota tribe members dramatize their lives and their fears by
building wheels made of rocks on their sacred grounds.

Again, elegantly-produced scenes add authenticity to these segments about
American Indian heritage.

Part of the success of Into the West is based on the variety of writing and
directing talent.

Unlike most TV miniseries, Spielberg and his associates wanted a wide array
of contributors involved in a project he feels "will be valuable to future
generations both in storytelling and as a history lesson."

For example, Simon Wincer, who won an Emmy for his work on Lonesome Dove,
directed Episode 2.

William Mastrosimone, a New Jersey playwright and screenwriter (Extremities
and The Burning Season) was mainly responsible for the theme of the
intertwined families.

Aided by three other writers, Mastrosimone admits that the major challenge
was staying away from all the well-worn Western clichés.

"One of the hardest things I had to do was to overcome all I had learned
about the West," he told critics.

"A lot of myths about our country today are based on Westerns. People in
Europe call George Bush a cowboy."

There are a few nits to pick regarding production and storytelling in the
first three installments.

In Episode 1, Jacob, out in the uncivilized West among the grizzled fur
traders, retains his beardless, clean-shaven Hollywood appearance. And some
story-line coincidences regarding the families stretch credibility.

Some will compare Into the West to Roots because of generational aspects
dealing with American Indian culture.

From a Western storytelling perspective many will recall CBS' Lonesome Dove
(1989).

However, Into the West will stand on its own as a remarkable TV project,
mixing important history with an entertaining story.

Now the question: How will the general public respond?

This is a lengthy summer-month project in a multichannel era,

Of course there's always TiVo. And TNT has a lengthy rerun schedule.

But keep in mind a critic has the luxury of continuity by viewing this
engrossing production without commercial interruptions.

Into the West

• What and where: A six-episode, 12-hour series, premiering at 6 p.m.
Friday on TNT, with repeats of the first two hours scheduled at 6 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday. The same schedule will follow in succeeding weeks.

Dusty Saunders is the broadcasting critic. Saundersd@...

Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.