Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Lary9 To call this quirky, brooding film a western is a failure of imagination since it is nothing less than a classical tragedy, a sort of Hamlet set in the American west circa 1875. "Silent Tongue" is a Sam Sheppard film with a stout cast and ambitious themes. It is helped toward that end by the venerable talents of Alan Bates as a drunken Irish thespian and snake oil salesman (what a great archetype) along with Richard Harris as the desperate father of a young man lost in madness from grieving the death of his Indian wife. It does not hurt that the screenplay's characters sometimes speak with the cadence and tone of formal 17th Century English mixed with a touch of cowboy colloquy. It helps even more that there are murderous ghosts and allusions to suicide. After about 30 minutes of trying to get a peg to hang my movie genre hat on, I was left with a question. "WTF is going on here?" That is why eventually I gave up and accepted it for what it was--a Shakespearian western. Aside from that, its a slow stroll with lots of dramatic flourishes and an unexpected touch of Grand Guignol. Dermott Mulroney and River Phoenix are evident in support. Native American actress Sheila Tousey is absolutely terrific. Watch it but in the right mood.

BigLaxFan94 I love how Ms. Tousey's character as the ghost and how she haunted the others was real cool. It was also interesting how Mr. Roe (Richard Harris) wanted to save his son from insanity. But you can't blame his son for being so loyal to his wife that even after death, he still remained by her side. That's when the ghost came into the picture and also into the reality of the others' minds! The Plains Indian tradition was to place a deceased body up above the ground on a scaffold rather than burying it underground. At least they got that correct. But Ms. Tousey's ghost wanted her own body to be burned so that her spirit can be free and in peace. Of course in real life that would not have happened but I also understand why she wanted herself to be cleansed in flames. Fortunately Mr. Roe himself cleared his son's insanity in the end by throwing the remnants of his son's deceased wife. This may seem weird to some but I think Ms. Tousey's ghost character was truly dominant in the sense that she woman-handled and terrorized the white men who ruined her sister's life "buying" her in exchange for the 4 horses and gold!! Unfortunately the ghost even gave her own sister hell for allowing herself to be "bought" by the foolish white man Harris who only cared about saving his son without considering the consequences! ANYWAYS... still a good film nonetheless and I recommend it for anyone interested in these kinds of films.

sexorcist6969 For me, this was an exercise in torture. I found it to be pretentious. Waaaaaaay over the top dramatically. Repulsive to look at. Bad acting. Bad dialogue. Almost as bad as Buried Child. I was reminded of The Emperor's New Clothes. People really do like to think of themselves as sophisticated, don't they...... A root canal would have been less painful. Oh, I particularly enjoyed the use of fingernails. Made me crave a manicure.

liderc This movie is great. Great actors (watch out for Tantoo Cardinal!), great script, photography and *great* score!! If you enjoy slow, atmospheric films like "Picnic at Hanging Rock", you will like this one, too! A soundtrack album and a DVD release would be really appreciated, not only by River Phoenix fans!