australian directors
thirst: I do not recommend a lot of movies, but Rabbit Proof Fence is simply powerful. There was something so uncomfortable about watching the "filming of" because the director is a gregarious white man and the whole movie centers around young aboriginal girls being in the steely grip of white Australians. Yet I guess you could interpret it as a healing counter-balance to the whole experience examined in the film. The search for the girls to portray the aboriginal girls was an incredible journey. The main character, Everlyn Sampi puts in a miraculous performance, but not without personal cost. The behind-the-scenes takes an unflinching look at that. All of the girls are stunning!! Wow!!
The whole thing also had a real interesting parallel with the making of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" movie as Andrew Adamson shares an accent with the director of this movie, Phillip Noyce. In the Narnia series though, there was a carefree, innocence-preserving Disney vibe {"check the gate!"). Whereas, the Fence movie was dealing with pointy racial issues that prompt one actor to observe that the child actors experience the same journey from innocence to injustice as the real-life characters they portray. She notes that with almost triumph. Really poignant.
If you're not aware of the plot, "half caste" aboriginal children were abducted from their native parents--mostly mothers--and put in re-education schools for the purpose of blending them back into white society--"for their own good." In the U.S., Native Americans experienced similar abuse. The children in the story, 7-14 years old, tell the story of a real-life girls who escape their "school" and walk 1200 miles home. The overwhelming sense is thirst--as the terrain is punishingly dry. You see the real Molly and Daisy at the end of the movie. Incredible!
P.S. The abduction scene resonated in a personal way. Utterly devastating and simultaneously hopeful, because of Molly's irrepressible spirit.
The whole thing also had a real interesting parallel with the making of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" movie as Andrew Adamson shares an accent with the director of this movie, Phillip Noyce. In the Narnia series though, there was a carefree, innocence-preserving Disney vibe {"check the gate!"). Whereas, the Fence movie was dealing with pointy racial issues that prompt one actor to observe that the child actors experience the same journey from innocence to injustice as the real-life characters they portray. She notes that with almost triumph. Really poignant.
If you're not aware of the plot, "half caste" aboriginal children were abducted from their native parents--mostly mothers--and put in re-education schools for the purpose of blending them back into white society--"for their own good." In the U.S., Native Americans experienced similar abuse. The children in the story, 7-14 years old, tell the story of a real-life girls who escape their "school" and walk 1200 miles home. The overwhelming sense is thirst--as the terrain is punishingly dry. You see the real Molly and Daisy at the end of the movie. Incredible!
P.S. The abduction scene resonated in a personal way. Utterly devastating and simultaneously hopeful, because of Molly's irrepressible spirit.