OK this might be entertaining but it is not a very accurate portrayal of the life of Riel at all There is no evidence that Riel went to Ottawa, let alone signed in at the parliament buildings. Riel hardly knew Gabriel Dumont during the time of the first Rebellion, they are only known to have met once before the second rebellion. The film omits any mention of Riel's treachery such as when he convinced a number of illiterate settlers to follow him by "predicting" a solar eclipse. The reason that he knew there would be an eclipse is he read it in the paper! As has been mentioned before Riel's appearance is not very accurate. This was an ambitious effort by the CBC to create an epic Canadian mini series similar to the US series "Centennial". It succeeds in my opinion in being entertaining with pretty good production values and aside from Riel's life itself is quite good at portraying the history and the characters in it. However as Riel is the main character and is portrayed so inaccurately I can't give it more than a 5.
Edit to add new information:
Well you live and learn. I have since discovered that Riel did sign into parliament after all. I still cannot upgrade my rating for this series because the overall portrayal of Riel is still very inaccurate.
Edit to add new information:
Well you live and learn. I have since discovered that Riel did sign into parliament after all. I still cannot upgrade my rating for this series because the overall portrayal of Riel is still very inaccurate.