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This was far better than the documentary that I was led to believe I would see. It is one of the best movies from 2002, in my opinion. It strikes me as a cross between "Walkabout" (for obvious reasons) and "The Color Purple" (the emotional bond between the children, the painful depiction of being torn from their loved ones) and any number of movies about Nazis planning the Holocaust (Kenneth Branagh nails his part down with a cold, condescending but scarily earnest "protector" who sincerely believes he is doing the best for the Aborigines by tearing apart their families and trying to make the Aborigine race vanish through intermarriage with whites).

That having been said, this is an uplifting story, with exceptional cinematography and music (by Peter Gabriel) and direction by Phillip Noyce, but even more exceptional performances by the three young girls. None had ever acted before. They were picked from thousands of Aboriginal girls who tried out. Also, please note that David Gullipil (sp?), the teenage Aborigine "walkabout" in the early 1970s "Walkabout", was given a key role as the tracker of the girls.

If you get the DVD version, please see the "making of the movie" special. It is worthwhile viewing on its own. You get to know those three little girls so much better, and you get a terrific sense of genuine humanity from director-producer Phillip Noyce.