Monday, March 29, 2010

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

Fred Shepisi

Brutal, heartbreaking story of an aborigine in the 19th century who tries hard to win acceptance in white society but is continually thwarted by vicious, overt prejudice. He finally snaps...declares "war" by committing an act of horrific violence and ends his days as a man on the run.

Well done film...wonderful use of outback locations...strong lead and secondary characters. The whites were shown as cruel bigots...like those in the American South...and seemed exaggerated but may not have been. The axe-killing scene was truly awful and hard to watch.

This was one of the early triumphs of the short-lived Australian film renaissance.

7

No comments:

Post a Comment