User Reviews

After seeing this film I was really appalled by what Donald Marshall had to go through at the hands of the so-called "justice system". Even to this day, I still cannot believe that 11 years of his life were taken away JUST BECAUSE the Canadian "justice system" had failed him miserably. Of course the ONLY reason why he was never found innocent was because of his Native Mik'maq background. If he were a white man who killed a Native person, then he probably would have never been convicted of anything. Unfortunately the racist problems against the First Nations folks are just as bad, if not worse than they ever were. Now although Donald got millions of dollars in compensation for the miscarriage of justice that happened to him, that will NEVER make up for the 11 years that he lost forever!!

But........... anyways........ this is why I gave this film a 7 out of 10.

This movie, based on the true story Of Donald Marshall, a Mic' Maq Indian convicted of murder in 1972 Sydney, Nova Scotia, is a poorly acted account of the facts. That is the biggest criticism I have of it. The second critique is that of the account. It needed to be at least a two part movie. 1:30 was not enough time to demonstrate all of the relevant facts in account. The account was jagged and jumpy due to this. Otherwise, the movie demonstrated without being to blatant that Canadians possess prejudice as much as any other country. This account is on par with "The David Milgaard Story" but could have been up there with "Dangerous Offender" (Marlene Moore) I would say to see this movie just to realize that Native Prejudice is in Canada. It is not a high quality account but is worth seeing, no matter what. I would like to update the story about Donald Marshall. He got compensated with $270 000 minus his lawyer fees (he actually kept about $70 000 total) plus a monthly living stipend for the rest of his life. Consider the 14 000 000 that David Milgaard received, in 1969, for twice (22 years) the time in prison. Why didn't Marshall receive $7 000 000 when he went in about 3 years after Milgaard? And why was Marshall stuck on welfare for the rest of his life? If you can, watch the show Life and Times (Canadian version of Biography), about him, from 2002. I am not native but am appalled by what I read in the book of the same name and in the movie. It is also disgusting that the killer did not receive a life sentence. If I recall, he only got 4 or 5 years compared to Marshall's life sentence.

I am Canadian who is glad my surname does not begin with "M" (David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin and Donald Marshall). Donald Marshall, as of 2002, is alive and well in N.S. and has had only one minor run in with the law since. He also fought for Native fishing rights in N.S. in the N.S. courts as their spokesman.