Recommended Viewing: Sterlin Harjo's New Film 'Barking Water'

Tulsa's own Sterlin Harjo is presenting his latest feature, Barking Water, this week at the Circle Cinema.

We attended the Friday night screening and are pleased to recommend the film. It's a love story, more or less, about two old friends on a journey across Oklahoma. Harjo uses the journey to work out a complicated relationship between the pair, the dying Frankie and his one-time lover Irene.

The film is about love, forgiveness, family, friendship, regret, and even place. To his credit, Harjo uses rural Oklahoma to good effect; his camera captures the stark beauty of the fields and fences along the back roads of the Sooner state.

The camera also lingers lovingly over the creased face of Richard Ray Whitman, the actor who plays Frankie. There's a special magic in some of these closeups, as if the camera itself is caressing the damaged man himself, trying to save what cannot be saved.

Harjo's film played at Sundance, where it was a crowd favorite. We loved the music in the film as well. And don't miss the restaurant scene—it's a hoot.

Barking Water plays all week at the Circle. For more on the screenings, click here.