'Broken Trail'

"Never use money ta meausre wealth, son."

After coming back from class on Thursday night, I happened to catch the second half of a great Western movie, Broken Trail, starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church.  It is a story of two cowboys who inadvertantly rescue five Chinese women from being sold into slavery in the Old West and what happens afterwards.

I enjoyed the movie so much (and since I missed the first half), I bought and read the book on Friday.  I may have to buy the DVD too.

Here's a trailer for the movie.  If you enjoyed Open Range, I'm sure you'll like this one too.

The movie was inspired by true stories of slave trafficing of young Chinese girls in the late 1800s.  Donaldina Cameron was one woman who fought against this slave trade and ended up rescuing and educating over 3,000 Chinese women.  Her ministry still exists to this day, serving the needs of Asian communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Sadly, slavery is still alive and well in many parts of the world today.

True West Magazine has a round table discussion with the author, Alan Geoffrion, and two actors about the story and the Chinese slave trade.

I definitely give the film two thumbs up!