‘Frybread Face and Me’ Review: A Sweet Coming-of-Age Story

Childhood is a strange time. Hormones kick in, a rebellious nature develops, and you discover who you are as a person with each new experience. Billy Luther‘s fried face and me Drown us in this time because it follows young Benny (Keir Tallman(which was sent to his grandmother Lorraine)Sarah Natani) home for the summer of 1990. Benny lives on a sheep farm, connecting with his Native American heritage. Specifically, it takes a look at the lives of his Navajo/Denne family members. There he meets his kind and loving grandmother, the free-spirited Aunt Lucy (Kahara Hodges), his complex uncle Marvin (Martin Sensmayer), and, more importantly, its cousin Dawn (Charlie Hogan), also known as the Frybread Face of the family.

Penny’s story feels very personal – this isn’t your average character’s story. Although it has all the elements of a good coming-of-age story, and is filled with good humor and family drama, Benny’s exploration of his Navajo heritage and language is rarely captured on film. Too often, stories involving Native Americans stereotype them, but the Penny family embraces their heritage without falling into neat little boxes. The film makes heavy use of the Navajo language, with Benny’s grandmother speaking only Navajo (and defiantly choosing not to learn English). The language used in the film is another tool to help identify this family. Conversations between Navajo-speaking family members are translated to us, while …