Edmonton – Honour Thy Father attempts to take a look at the ability for various religions and cultures to cohabit the same space in a small town. The story follows Gerald Auger, a traditional Cree, in his bid to give his father a proper burial, after the local Anglican priest had buried his father the Anglican way. The topic is definitely an interesting one, and the disappear Indian religions/culture is a topic certainly worth a look. However, this documentary comes out as nothing but spiteful. Perhaps it is because of the personal nature of the topic (narrator trying to bury his father against the politics of the church), but when you start off with a documentary by stating that the white man has been killing Indian culture and taking advantage of you for hundreds of years, then it can’t help but come off as a tad bias. I think documentaries are suppose to expose facts and angles that you may have not seen before, and then let you make your judgment. Honor Thy Father does not really do that, it appears to set out to gain some sort of sympathy and while the sympathy is certainly justifiable, it should not be thrown at you in such a direct manner as this film did.
