Forward onto his eventual death chanie himself too

forward onto his
eventual death, Chanie
himself too can become
that scary figure
towards all those people
who were responsible
for the atrocities
commited in these
residential schools.
Visual Effects and their meanings:
The cold Blue/White tone throughout the film. The warm and cheery colours present during
flashbacks or appearances of Chanie’s Father.
The blue and white/grayish tones give off a very
chilly, cut metal mood, which are always present
when walking through the harsh wilderness
Chanie has to navigate or when the film is on a
scene featuring a residential school. These colours
are not very welcoming and present a very cold,
metallic touch, which at times feels like a forceful
wiping of a slate until it is completely drained of
colour or a sharp wind. This is intended and
especially for the residential school parts as that is
what Chanie feels all throughout the film, nothing
but cold, harsh, unforgiving cuts that makes him
depressed most likely. This blue/white colour
scheme is indicative of that, just really giving off a
sad and harsh mood which of course, all
throughout the film as that is what Chanie mostly
experiences. A cold reality that he is forced to live
through which is what this blue, white, and
greyish tones represent.
These colours are a stark contrast of the reality
Chanie has to go through, as in his flashbacks of
when he was back home/with his father, he was
happy, joyful and full of emotion which is what
the fuzzy, bright yellow/light red colours
showcase to us. Moreover, whenever he is
reminded/thinks of his past life, before residential
schools, we always see this cheery, welcoming
colour palette displayed which gives off that
feeling of warmth and joy. Sort of like a nostalgic
effect which makes sense as well as whenever
these colours come up, it is a bit
hazy/fuzzy/washed out in the way that we know it
is a past memory which Chanie holds dearly.
Lastly, when Chanie’s father comes to him as most
likely, a hallucination, he is comprised of that
warm, welcoming collage of colours which
embraces Chanie, making him feel that
joy/happiness for a bit until reality take holds of
him again, soaking Chanie in that miserable really

pale blue, white, and gray colour palette.
Lyrics:
“I am the Stranger” “I know that she didn’t mean to
hurt me but that’s what she did”
“But I want to go back, if this is
the end, I want to go back”
The phrase is a very complex
and deep set of lyrics but
basically boils down to how
Chanie is simply someone who
is lost, a person lacking an
identity and a being who if you
knew before residential schools,
would not know him now after
his time there. These lyrics tell
us that Chanie lacks an sort of
persona, and that he is really just
an unknown, like a blank slate in
terms of identity which is most
likely a result of the residential
school system. This probably
stripped him of all that made
Chanie him, and washed it away,
resulting in him being a stranger,
someone who maybe Chanie
doesn’t even recognize anymore
due to his sheer