Barking Water, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, is further proof of emerging screenwriter/director Harjo’s creativity and originality as a filmmaker. As with his 2007 directorial debut, Four Sheets to the Wind , Harjo’s poignant script tells the story of Native Americans living in Oklahoma. But instead of depicting the lives of twenty-somethings navigating the aftermath of their father’s suicide, Barking Water provides an intimate window into the lives of an on-again off-again couple nearing ever closer to their own mortality.

The film’s minimal dialogue allows the audience to absorb the breathtaking surroundings, observe the characters’ subtle interactions, and process the emotional impact of a man facing the end of his life. Once Frankie and Irene are on their way, their past together slowly unfolds.

Between flashbacks, stilted bits of conversation, and interactions with relatives and strangers the pair meets on the road, Harjo reveals that Frankie had previously left Irene. Heartbroken, she never wanted to see him again, but once Frankie confesses that he’s terminally ill, she agrees to help him. Frankie says that he wants to end his trip, and possibly his life, at his estranged daughter’s home.

The route Frankie wants to take is not a straight shot – geographically and emotionally. Making his way through Oklahoma, he stops at a relative’s house to pick up his favorite suit. Irene acts as a willing chauffeur, even though she really can’t afford the trip, stealing gas and asking relatives to buy them meals.

Considering Frankie’s past behavior, Irene is too obliging. But Whitman makes Frankie a likeable, and even charming, scoundrel. He’s a man filled with regret trying to make things right while he still can. Despite their history, Irene is still not immune to Frankie’s charisma. The two look like lovesick kids, even as Irene tells everyone who asks that they’re not together because she’s not “crazy.”

Barking Water’s themes – regret, mortality, love – are heavy tearjerkers, and yet the film is also laugh-out-loud funny. As with any road trip movie, Frankie and Irene meet an eccentric cast of characters that comprise some of the film’s most memorable scenes: young Native American relatives who only order plates of bacon at breakfast, white property owners who accuse the duo of trespassing and “voodoo” but then get Frankie high, and a college-aged couple with a broken-down car who ask too many personal questions and leave a mix tape as a parting gift.

Although the film follows the conventions of a road trip movie, Harjo’s script and direction never feel contrived. Frankie and Irene are not an idealized couple; they fight over the radio until Irene stops the car, gets out, ostensibly realizes that Frankie is dying, and then acquiesces to his playlist.

Barking Water’s only shortcoming is that it is only 85 minutes. Harjo, like Frankie and Irene, leaves too much unspoken and unseen. Frankie may be living on borrowed time, but he could have granted us a little more screen time. That kind of charm, as evidenced by Irene’s devotion, left me wanting more.



About the Author
Jessica Mosby is a writer and critic living in Oakland, California. In the rare moments when she's not traveling across the United States for work, Jessica enjoys listening to public radio, buying organic food at local farmers markets, trolling junk stores, and collecting owl-themed tchotchke.