Charlie's Country

I love this film. First I loved 'The Tracker' because at last the indigenous man is not a victim or worse, a joke. Now comes Charlie's Country. To Australians the very word 'country'signifies the relationship of indigenous Australians to their country. To an international audience I wish to say this: to me a sign of true art is that there are moments of transcendence. Times when it is impossible to connect rational dots any more. Life flows. Then we awaken from this willing trance and watch superb film making happening, telling a real story, not some bullshit story but real, y' know people, my people. In this Rolf de Heer & David Gulpilil have created a play of universality, the essence of being human will be recognised by any viewer especially those who have experienced how devastatingly concrete the raw use of State power is upon an individual; let alone an individual from a totally different culture, a living culture. Welcome to the new world order. And gratitude to these two men who created this film.

This depicts the current situation that the indigenous face as a cultural consequence of invasion in 1788. It is acted out with precision by award-winning David Gulpilil and directed beautifully by de Heer to capture the nature and landscape of regional Australia. A very important piece of Australian history, told in a heartfelt way. Scenes of Northern Territory in Australia are captured exactly how the state is, a humid climate, torrential rains, greenery. There are a few bits of comedy throughout, which are presented in a respectful way. Fantastic show of traditions. Rolf de Heer should be commended again for another fantastic movie. Gulpilil won best actor in Cannes for this, not surprisingly. Every Australian must see.

Australia's official submission into this year's Best Foreign Language category at the Academy Awards, famed director Rolf de Heer's raw, uncompromising and impressively beautiful film is easily the most accomplished and important tale to come from our shores in quite some time and acts as a very personal journey for one of our country's most recognisable actors, David Gulpilil.

To understand the power of Charlie's Country and the telling nature of its tale, one must look into how the film eventuated and what it harboured for Gulpilil in particular. Despite his success as an actor that started off in Nic Roeg's Walkabout in 1971, Gulpilil had found himself on hard times, the victim as sadly many indigenous people face in the country of alcohol abuse that saw him incarcerated in a federal penitentiary. Friends for many years after their collaborations in 2002's The Tracker and 2006's Ten Canoes (Australian film's worthy of being tracked down) de Heer visited Gulpilil in jail where the seeds of Charlies Country were formed when Gulpilil expressed a great desire to once more work with his friend and director. From there a story that was close to Gulpilil's heart began to be formed and it's where the quiet understated power of de Heer's work stems from.

With a mere look, or with the camera following his every move through the vast beauty of the Australian outback or the more scary surrounds of Darwin, Gulpilil commands the screen and de Heer controls this wonderfully, not at all afraid to let Gulpilil's face tell us all we need to know. In what is undoubtedly a match between the actor and the real man, Gulpilil inhabits this man Charlie with a grace and understanding as he struggles to come to grips with his mother country slowly but surely coming under more influence from the white man. This small scale story of one man's trials and tribulations masks a much larger overall problem Australia has at its core regarding the treatment of our indigenousness people and a failure to properly combine the old and the new without losing the connection to the land and customs that for thousands of years have been integral to the culture of these people. All these elements within Charlie's Country play out in such a manner that never becomes overbearing, for there is subtle humour here (water buffalo anyone?) and grace from all involved that gives Charlie's Country not only a heart but a recognisable humanity.

It shouldn't be surprising that Charlie's Country is a finely crafted and effective movie, for de Heer has long shown his ability to create memorably moving films and his previous collaborations with Gulpilil are some of the finest ever made in this country concerning indigenous culture. From Gulpilil's award worthy turn (which was rewarded with a Best Actor win at this year's Cannes Un Certain Regard festival), Graham Tardif's beautiful piano score and de Heers professional direction, this is Australian filmmaking and storytelling at its best and a moving portrait of modern day life in the harsh realities of the outback and the lives our indigenous people live in particular.

4 and a half hand crafted spears out of 5

This movie provides an insight into a world that is difficult for many people to see or understand. The film is beautifully shot, and the scenes and sounds of Australia are magical. The acting is first rate, and the script is very clever. Many of the things Charlie says to European Australians don't make much sense, but in this movie we are able to understand what Charlie is thinking when he says these things, and so we understand perfectly what is meant by every sentence he utters. The sense of longing, and of loneliness is palpable, as is the passionate love of country. The dance scenes with the children are uplifting and lovely. This is a moving and beautiful film, and a huge bridge for building understanding and empathy for a different and valuable culture.

I saw this movie with no real idea what I will discover. It presents the struggle of the aboriginal communities and what they face every day. Turned in South Australia mainly it is supposed to represent the Northern territory at its worst in a way... Humidity, Rain, Harsh sunny day and so on. Oh well except that part the film itself is a great drama about two culture in contradiction and the struggle that goes with as a result. It has some sense of humor (some wink to crocodile Dundee too) but also some hidden message if you can analyze each scene presented to you. Charlies's country will make you laugh, cry (my girlfriend did), revolt you sometimes. It will certainly not let you out of emotions. For some it might be a bit slow to start, but hang on to your seat it is just the way it is supposed to be and if you make it to the end you will end up with lots of material to debate with. A real marvel, a true jewel of simplicity. I really enjoyed this movie and cannot recommend this one enough. If you are Australian or living in Australia go watch this movie. For the rest of the world it might be another story but as a story it still a great one.