In the bad days, which in Australia meants before 1970, the Australian government dealt with the Aboriginal population in ways analagous to how Americans treated Native Americans. That is, they were not considered fully human nor really capable of caring for themselves and making proper choices in life. I’m sure the previous sentences are an extreme understatement but from my understanding, one cannot deny that both are shameful situations which fortunately have changed in both countries.
Rabbit-Proof Fence deals with one aspect of how Aboriginal folks were denied freedom. Another historical artifact of the post-World War I period Down Under was the construction of a huge fence in the Western part of the country that stretched coast to coast from north to south to keep some nasty, voracious rabbits out of ranching lands, hence the name of this movie, which is set in 1931.
Three young half Aboriginal/half white girls, ages 8, 10 and 14, two sisters and a cousin whose fathers were white men working on the fence, are unceremoniously removed from their mothers’ care and shipped over a thousand miles away to a school so they can be trained for a life of servitude to whites and married off to whites to, in two generations, eliminate any traces of Aboriginal blood. Or so thinks A.O. Neville (played well by Kenneth Branaugh), government minister and protector of the less-than-people. But the girls are not willing to accept this future and quickly escape; the bulk of the film is their travel, on foot, with no money and barely any concept of the route home.
Director Phillip Noyce, an Australian better known for such big Hollywood films as Clear and Present Danger, Sliver and The Bone Collector, took a big chance and used his clout to make an undoubtedly important film, based on a true story as put down by the oldest girl’s granddaughter. Now “based on a true story” is often the kiss of death for a movie but not in this instance. Noyce and screenwriter Christine Olsen did a superb job using striking visuals of the spare Aussie landscape, very little dialog (much in the girls’ language, with English subtitles) and amazing body language brought out from the girls.
Adding to the film is a spare, emotional score by Peter Gabriel, which employs native instruments and melodies. Christopher Doyle did an excellent job of cinematography.
definitely recommended
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