2023-11-24 14:59:00
Be careful, little gem. Dark Winds, the new thriller series, available on BeTV from November 24, is mind-blowing without appearing to be so.
First distinctive feature: it takes place on the Navajo reservation, located at the intersection of the “Four Corners States” (Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico). Some 70,000 km2 placed under the jurisdiction of barely fifty agents of the Navajo Tribal Police, in the early 1970s, when the series takes place. Lieutenant John Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) warns newcomer Sergeant Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) to always have a supply of water in his vehicle in case of a breakdown.
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The setting of classic westerns
We know the settings: Monument Valley, Chelly Canyon… We’ve seen them in westerns, especially the classic ones by John Ford. A (white) FBI special agent invites Chee to the hotel where John Wayne and other Hollywood stars once stayed. “And the Indians?” Chee asks. “Which Indians?” retorts the other. “Precisely…” Chee breathes. (For the film buff’s anecdote, Ford used authentic Navajos as extras in his films. The director boasted of having been made honorary members of the Navajo nation.)
If the FBI is present in the reserve, it is because, under federal legislation, it is the only one authorized to investigate blood crimes. At the beginning of Dark Winds, Leaphorn discovers in a motel the horribly mutilated body of an old man and that of a young woman devoid of any trace of physical violence. Leaphorn has no choice but to call the FBI. Even if, as the girl’s mother warns, the FBI doesn’t care regarding the murders of the natives.
Happy coincidence, the very cynical FBI agent Whitover (Noah Emmerich) is convinced that the perpetrators of a violent robbery in Gallup have found refuge on the reservation and are perhaps activists of the AIM (the American Indian Movement, activist movement for Native American rights very active in the early 1970s). Give and take in the form of modus vivendi: if Leaphorn helps him with the heist, Whitover gives him free rein to solve the mysterious double murder. Chee will prove to be a pawn as well as an unexpected resource in the affair.
Sergeants Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) assist Lieutenant Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police. ©AMC
Tony Hillerman’s novels
Leaphorn and Chee are the heroes of a double trilogy of novels by the late Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), whose work is translated and published by Rivages/Noir. Their parallel adventures came together on paper in Porters-de-peau (1986). The Dark Winds series (title of the second opus of the Jim Chee trilogy) is inspired by the plots of Woman Who Listens and People of Darkness. It immediately brings together the two police officers for the sake of efficiency and in order to constitute the classic duo of the veteran and the novice, dear to the genre. Added to this is the figure of Manuelito (Jessica Matten), a police officer more experienced than Chee but who retains the traditions of her community and superstitions.
Tony Hillerman left “where the dead dance”
Like the novels from which it is adapted, Dark Winds is an atypical thriller which uses the pretext of an intrigue to depict the cultural and social specificities of the Navajo nation, whose indigenous inhabitants are second-class citizens in fact. Going once morest this reality and in accordance with new Hollywood standards, this series co-produced by Robert Redford and George RR Martin (the author of the Game of Thrones saga) brings together a Native American cast, screenwriters and directors. Without forgetting the showrunner Graham Roland (Prison Break, Fringe,…) of Chickasaw origin.
Zahn McClarnon composes a taciturn but realistic John Leaphorn, faithful to the novels ©AMC
La performance de Zahn McClarnon
As Leaphorn and Chee, Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon are familiar faces. The first played the killer Hanzee Dent in the second season of Fargo and the robot Akecheta in the second season of Westworld. The second was one of the werewolves from the Twilight saga.
McClarnon composes a taciturn but realistic Leaphorn, faithful to the novels from the scene that introduces him: Leaphorn forces a white biker to dig a hole that looks like a grave. Prelude to expeditious justice? No. The biker is forced to return Navajo artifacts that he had unearthed to the arid foothills. But Leaphorn’s piercing gaze leaves no doubt that he is willing to use force if necessary. At that moment, a dark storm front invokes the series title.
This storm echoes the conflict brewing in Leaphorn: a police officer responsible for enforcing the law while being aware of the injustices inflicted on his community. Zahn McClarnon conveys this in a subtle interpretation, brilliantly creating a new figure of the vigilante of the West. Beyond the fidelity to the spirit of the novels of Tony Hillerman, one of the most unique pens of American crime fiction, inventor of the noir western, the actor’s performance is one of the major pleasures of this series, the third of which season has just been confirmed. We are delighted regarding it.
Dark Winds Polar Series created by Graham Roland. With Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison,… Six episodes of 39 to 53 min (a new episode every Friday). BeTV
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