5/5 heart-breaking
  by R. Neinstein (Brooklyn, NY USA)
A beautiful documentary based on the true and incredibly sad story of the last "wild" Indian in North America. Ishi was a wise, gentle soul, and his story is heart-breaking.

4/5 'Unbelievable Piece of Work'
  by Nicholas C. Poser
This is a wonderful documentary, narrated by Linda Hunt. I, having read 'Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America' by Theodora Kroeber (1897 - 1979), was greatly impressed by it. It perfectly captures this remarkable man, of such courage, kindness, talent, and greatness of simplicity, who died long before he should have, at a time, just, when the necessary work could be done on someone like him, where racism, ignorance, and intolerance, truly, began to have enemies. The film is scattered with audio of the many early audio recordings Ishi singing and telling stories - I sure hope that the tape that they were transfered onto, in 1957, has had deservingly, lovingly-digitally remastered copies made of it, so that all may hear the voice of this great man, from so long ago.

One thing that struck me, since I saw the opening portion on YouTube, is that it is filmed on film that looks as though it is from the late '70's, not 1992. Despite this, it is a fantastic film, that is a great source for any Ishi enthusiast, or humanities teacher. I sometimes say to myself, when I am sad, or when someone I care about leaves, Ishi's good-bye, which is the final line of his biography by Theodora Kroeber - 'You stay. I go.'

5/5 Astounding Story
  by Kieran F. Johnston (Shah Alam, Selangor Malaysia)
I witnessed this documentary on PBS around 25 years ago and the impression it left on me has never weakened. What I remember is a human being, his whole tribe and family brutally slaughtered, driven into the wilderness to live for a long period with a small remnant, and in the final years of his concealment, completely shorn of human contact. When he was "discovered," what anthropologists found was a human being without any bitterness or rancor for what had happened. In fact, he felt kindness and goodwill towards all around him. Furthermore, when he was shown the wonders of contemporary civilization in the then "ultra-modern" San Francisco, he was neither startled, impressed, or surprized by buildings and technology. What kind of evolution had this person experienced to bring him to this state of mind?
But the strongest impression I remember from the film was this: what would it be like to be the last person in entire spread of the universe to speak your mother tongue, and not be able to speak any other tongue? Granted, those years in the wilderness must have steeled him with some pretty profound silences; but when I think of Ishi among the babbling white people surrounding him, I think of the astronaut voyager in the last 45 minutes of "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Another strong impression that I remember is that he was kindly,receptive, courteous and ceremonious. This made me think of the"elephant man," who, despite his differences and handicaps, showed more purity of heart and kindness than the monsters who surrounded him.
What it seemed to come down to was this: Ishi, without language, tribe, or tradition, seemed to connect better than those of us with endless communication tools and toys, including language itself. What a colossal irony.
I don't think it is too strong to say that this film can be received on the level of a parable, a parable on par with any of the stories in the New Testament.

5/5 A true story that raises some good questions
  by Anthro Prof (McLean, VA USA)
I mostly use this film in teaching introductory anthropology because it does several things well. First, it provides comprehensive coverage of a story about an individual who lived through some of the horrible things that happened to California natives. That works well at putting a human face on historic events. In addition, it does a good job of weaving in the story of the early days of anthropology in this country through Ishi's relationship with Alfred Kroeber. Along the way, implicit questions are raised about the sorts of ethical dilemmas faced by Kroeber. Finally, the historic photographs and recordings are well utilized. Visually, the film is well made and elicits sympathy for Ishi while also documenting his resilience and strength of character. That makes him a real three-dimensional being, as opposed to a mere stereotypical victim. One comes away with a real appreciation for who he was, in all his complexity.

5/5 One of the best documentarys on an American Indian subject
  by
Ishi, the Last Yahi is a powerful dramatic documentary that gave me a new understanding and appreciation for the American Indian struggle to maintain their traditional ways in spite of genocidal policys of the federal and state gov. Ishi inspires us by making the amazing transition from aboriginal America into the twentieth century without losing his own sense of self.