I’ve always found Australia a fascinating country. This week, I
discovered that I still have a lot to learn about this continent with a
dazzling array of wildlife and a crucial connection to several of my
favorite movies, television shows and songs. Rabbit-Proof Fence,
directed by Philip Noyce and based on the book by Doris Pilkington,
daughter of the main character, exposed me to a dark chapter of
Australian history with which I was entirely unfamiliar.
Rabbit-Proof Fence
is the story of sisters Molly (Everlyn Sampi) and Daisy (Tianna
Sansbury) and their cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan). These three girls
were a part of what is called the Stolen Generation, as for several
decades, the government removed children who were of mixed heritage from
their Aboriginal homes in order to integrate them into white society,
where they would eventually intermingle with other Caucasians so that by
the time a couple of generations had passed, no obvious trace of
Aboriginal ethnicity would remain. In many cases, the white parents were
men who had worked near Aboriginal settlements and moved on, so these
children left loving mothers and extended families to be raised in
orphanages.
Molly, Daisy and Gracie were only three of
thousands of children taken in this manner. What’s unusual about them is
the fact that they escaped the orphanage to which they had been brought
and evaded capture while walking the 1500 miles back home through
largely inhospitable terrain. The movie is rated PG but still manages to
effectively convey the harsh conditions the girls faced and the cruelty
of their forced separation from their families.
As they
progress in their journey, they find themselves obliged to rely upon the
kindness of strangers from time to time - even though news of their
escape has spread far and wide, rendering them extremely susceptible to
kidnapping. Each encounter with another person is filled with tension as
we wonder if they are placing their trust in the right people and
whether they can be clever enough to elude captors yet again if a
supposed new friend turns out to be a threat.
Kenneth Branagh
is the only actor in the film I recognized, and he portrays the prime
antagonist. As Chief Protector of Aborigines in western Australia, A. O.
Neville presents a cool, professional face to the world, and while the
orphanage children call him “devil” behind his back, he actually seems
to have convinced himself that he is doing them a favor. Branagh has a
certain undeniable charm about him that makes it seem more likely that
he could have most of his peers persuaded that he was enforcing the
proper course of action. That his rhetoric almost seems to make sense at
times renders him all the more chilling.
The other adult who
has a fairly large role to play is David Gulpilil, a celebrated
Aboriginal actor who portrays the mostly silent tracker Moodoo, who is
tasked with finding the girls. Molly is extremely clever, and we soon
get a sense of the respect this weathered man develops for his prey as
she devises numerous ways of throwing him off the scent, to the point
that he eventually seems to slacken his efforts.
The three
girls feel extremely authentic, whether they are trudging through water
to avoid leaving tracks, bickering in the baking heat or sharing what
meager food they can find. As the oldest of the girls and the leader of
the expedition, Molly does most of the interacting with other
characters, and Sampi fares extremely well as she demonstrates the
maturity and vulnerability of her position. Sansbury is winning as the
little girl whose exhaustion often means that she must be carried, and
Monaghan may have had the most challenging job of all, as she reacts
most forcefully to their abduction and is at the heart of an especially
wrenching scene later on.
I’d had this movie in my Netflix
queue for a while, and when I realized that it had risen to the top, I
tried to delete it because I saw that it was available for Instant
Viewing. However, I wasn’t quick enough, and I’m glad, because the DVD
includes a nearly hour-long documentary that takes us through the
process of choosing the young actresses, preparing for filming and
actually shooting the movie. I’m usually not one who gets too excited
about behind the scenes features, but I found this one pretty absorbing
since it focused almost entirely on the three girls, none of whom had
any previous acting experience. I loved the playful but respectful
rapport the three shared with Noyce and their acting coach, Rachel Maza,
and the heartbreaking abduction scene seems even more poignant after
seeing how traumatic it was for the girls to film. Interestingly, though
it happens very early in the movie, it was the last scene shot, as it
was the most emotionally demanding.
I wouldn‘t call Rabbit-Proof Fence
an uplifting movie. It deals with a disturbing chapter of Australian
history, and the voice-over at the end reveals that hardships at the
hand of the government continued to plague these girls and thousands
like them for many years. Still, Molly’s determination and ingenuity is
inspiring, so while the film is depressing, it is also a beautifully
shot and acted testament to the power of the human spirit.
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