Dark Winds – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

DARK WINDS – Review by Diane Carson

July 18, 2024July 19, 2024 Diane Carson amc, Dark Winds, drama series, Graham Roland, Leaphorn and Chee, Navajo Nation, Noah Emmerich, rainn wilson, Zahn McClarnon

Dark Winds tells Diné stories from their perspective. Set on the Navajo Nation, based on author Tony Hillerman’s novel series Leaphorn and Chee, Dark Winds foregrounds investigations into murders and mayhem by Tribal Policeman, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, his deputy Jim Chee, and Sergeant Bernadette Manuelito. The two seasons, six episodes each, immerse viewers in the reservation near Monument Valley with events straddling forensic and spiritual realms.

Reviews

DARK WINDS Season 2 – Review by Susan Granger

September 15, 2023September 15, 2023 Susan Granger amc, Dark Winds, George R. R. Martin, Graham Roland, Navajo reservation, robert redford, series, Zahn McClaron

Starting its second season, AMC’s Western series Dark Winds is a pulpy procedural drama set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation during the early 1970s.
Based on two of Tony Hillerman’s best-selling novels – Listening Woman and People of Darkness – it revolves around laconic tribal police officer Joe Leaphorn, played by veteran character actor Zahn McClaron (Reservation Dogs), who is actually Lakota on his mother’s side.

Reviews

DARK WINDS – Review by Susan Granger

July 18, 2022July 20, 2022 Susan Granger amc, Camel Rock Studios, Chris Eyre, Dark Winds, Deanna Allison, Graham Roland, Kiowa Gordon, Noah Emmerich, Zahn McClarnon

Why is AMC’s series Dark Winds so compelling? Perhaps because it emphasizes the importance of realistically depicting Indigenous people in Westerns and what it means to have an all-Native American writers’ room, along with Navajo elders as background extras. Series creator Graham Roland insisted on authenticity, concentrating on Navajo customs and character development. He was determined to make a show about two Native Americans who were the heroes of their own story, as opposed to being brought in by a Caucasian character.