Although the 1992 film Thunderheart did poorly at the box office when first released, it has acquired somewhat of a cult following. The reason for this is that although the film is a police crime procedural on the surface, the underlying themes dealing with corruption provide a unique insight into the darker side of human nature.
The film revolves around a federal agent played by Val Kilmer who seeks solve a murder on an Indian Reservation. At the center of the corruption is the FBI itself which seeks to pin the killing a Native American activist even though he may not have committed the crime. Much of this is rationalized by the notion that a greater good is being served. Hence, the corruption is not really corruption since it is being used to meet out justice.
In some cases, this attempt to meet out justice is done in such a way that brutality is the rule of order. The grizzled FBI agent Frank Coutelle, for example, is incredible brutal in the way he treats those on the reservation and seems to go about the investigation in order to arrive at a convenient pre-arranged conclusion.
So, while on the surface the narrative of the film deals with the apprehension of a fugitive the themes center on how authority can become corrupt. When authority – whether it be the FBI or other entities – becomes corrupted then it loses its moral order. Without moral order in a nation’s important institutions, then the nation itself becomes corrupt through an amalgamation of microcosmic entities that comprise the nation’s infrastructure.
Bibliography
- Apted, Michael. Director. THUNDERHEART. Columbia/Tri-Star. Original release: 1992
