Gee, Those Indians Look Familiar!

By Janice Castro

So you're sitting there, popcorn in hand, watching MEDICINE MAN, and it hits you: haven't you met those Indians someplace before? You're right. Bekana Santos Kaiapo, who plays Imana, the Brazilian Indian child helped by Dr. Campbell (Sean Connery), made his film debut as an infant in The Emerald Forest (1985) and earned his spurs more recently in At Play in the Fields of the Lord. Edinei Maria Serrio Dos Santos, who appears as Imana's mother, also played Indians in all three films. Elias Monteiro da Silva, Campbell's aide Palala, was in At Play. Silva says his latest role was particularly daunting: "I play an Indian who speaks English. And I'm not an Indian, and I don't speak English."

With reporting by Wendy Cole