When it comes to certain subjects a film can easily turn into a diatribe, a full-fledged political statement. Sometimes that’s fine; exposés like All the President’s Men and Spotlight are better for the agitation they cause in viewers. Yet sometimes hit-job storytelling just feels so one-sided and imbalanced that viewers feel manipulated, or, worse, pummeled by a film’s message making. Such is the case for me with On Sacred Ground, an awkward tale of journalism and the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline in North Dakota.
Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell’s film is meant to be a heartfelt defense of Native American beliefs, customs and legal rights, specifically about the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and its contention that the oil pipeline in question would violate its residents’ rights and threaten the very survival of the residents by poisoning their water supply. They may very well be right, and it is a provocative argument. But the film frames its drama through the eyes of a troubled journalist (William Mapother), whose personal problems detract from the central story and make little sense. Eventually he is convinced that the pipeline is a threat, that it has been pushed through the legal system by the wealthy oil company over the objections of the poor people of Standing Rock and that his “assignment” is on the wrong side of history.
The drama should unfold as the journalist gradually becomes aware of his own manipulation and begins to favor the other side. Some of that is present, but this guy is such a pushover that he has to be led to the facts of the matter. His relationship with his pregnant wife (Amy Smart) is utterly baffling, especially to him apparently, and it is only through the mysticism of the people upon whom he is reporting that he is able to complete his job and return home, a better man. It barely makes any sense at all.
The filmmakers obviously take sides from the very start and the manipulation is clumsy. The central journalist is a mess of a man, which hinders the drama rather than helps it, and nobody on the oil side of things is shown in a positive light at all. It’s so one-sided that I started to root for the oil company to ramrod the project through no matter what. In real life I would not feel that way, but pedestrian propaganda can be repulsive enough to make one switch sides against one’s better judgment. ☆ 1/2. 24 January 2024.