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Rabbit
Proof Fence
review by Carrie Gorringe, 20 September 2002
27th Toronto International Film
Festival After a decade of
working in Hollywood, most notably as Harrison Ford's favorite
action-film director (Clear and Present Danger, Patriot
Games), Phillip Noyce has returned to his Australian roots in
Rabbit-Proof Fence. Working from Doris Pilkington's
autobiography, Noyce and screenwriter Christine Olsen crafts a
bittersweet tale of miraculous resilience in the face of
state-sanctioned racism.
In 1931, the Australian government
passed the Aboriginal Act, a law which allowed for the removal of
so-called "half-caste" children from their aboriginal families in
the hope that their "inferior" (read: black) bloodlines could be,
in the words of a fanatical official named Neville (Kenneth Branagh),
"bred out" of them. Placed in grim orphanages in the outback, the
children were subjected to periodic "inspections" to determine which
of any of the occupants had skin deemed "white enough" to allow them
to be taken and trained for more than menial labor (the law was not
repealed until 1970, long after eugenics had been scientifically
discredited) Those foolish enough to try escaping are subjected to
horrible punishment. However, fourteen-year-old Molly Craig (Everlyn
Sampi) is resolute in her desire to return home. Gathering up her
sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and their cousin, Gracie Fields
(Laura Monaghan), Molly tries to make her way home despite
incredible odds. Not only must they travel over 1500 miles- on foot
- but they will also be pursued by Moodoo (David Gulpilil), an
Aboriginal who is forced to use his innate gift for tracking by a
government that holds his own child hostage. Their only guidepost
in the desolate outback is the rabbit-proof fence erected by the
government to separate the farms from the rabbits (and the
"irremediable" Aboriginals from those who can be "saved").
Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, Neville knows exactly where
they need to go to reach their home. The result is an elaborate
game of cat-and-mouse as the girls, attempting to stay several steps
ahead of Neville's men, seek help along the way, not knowing whom
they can trust.
Noyce and his team have created a
quiet masterpiece that moves along as quietly and as resolutely as
the girls themselves. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle bathes the
screen in pastels, their wanness conveying the deceptive beauty of
the outback, one that can be abruptly broken in an instant by the
intrusion of the dark cars and uniforms of officialdom. Peter
Gabriel's score unobtrusively confers an appropriately eerie and
ominous, yet faintly hopeful, edge upon the proceedings. The
powerful performances by Sampi, Sansbury and Monaghan aren't laden
with mock-heroics, and necessarily so (the film's coda makes it
clear that there is no clean conclusion to the girls' story. Fence
is the necessary examination of one of Australia's darker legal
policies.
Toronto International Film Festival Coverage:
Reviews:
Interviews:
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Directed
by:
Phillip Noyce
Starring:
Everlyn Sampi
Tianna Sansbury
Laura Monaghan
David Gulpilil
Ningali Lawford
Myarn Lawford
Deborah Mailman
Jason Clarke
Kenneth Branagh
Natasha Wanganeen
Garry McDonald
Written by:
Christine Olsen
Rated:
PG - Parental
Guidance Suggested.
Some material may
not be appropriate
for children.
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