Terras Perigosas

The thing I really love about Australian movies in 2020/21 is they are all brilliant. Director Stephen Johnsons' "High Ground" is no exception. It's the little things...always the little things like the sound effects of a bird eating its prey or a lizard scratching on the bark of a tree, and even green ants munching on flora that make this film so intimate and at times feels like I'm watching a Clint Eastwood cowboy flick. The break out role for Indigenous actor Jacob Junior Nayin ggul as Gutjuk (which means Hawk) is outstanding and not to be overshadowed by legendary actors like Simon Baker, Jack Thompson, Callan Mulvey or fellow Aboriginal actor Aaron Pederson. "High Ground" is a brutal retelling of our First Nations Peoples horrific treatment at the hands of the British Colonists to their country...all in the name of the Crown. Its Australia's answer to similar action in other countries like the British colonisation of the Americas and their treatment of the Natives. It's a familiar story around the globe. None of it is pretty, except the Country itself. This is up close and personal from the perspective of both the Colonials and the local tribes and the disastrous results of these encounters. "High Ground" is set against the stunning landscape of 1930's Arnhem Land. Sacred land for Northern Territory tribes that live there to this day. Bakers' Travis and Gutjuk are out to track down warring wild tribesman and Uncle, Baywarra, played by Sean Mununggurr. Whilst his own Granfather Dharrpa (Witiyana Marika) is trying to make peace and seek justice for the deaths of his family by the Colonial Soldiers. On this journey in the outback who can you really trust? Simon Baker in his 50's is making superb movies including Breath (Netflix) This movie was first screened in an open air theatre in Western Australia with a near full capacity crowd. Made all the more remarkable because not many places in the world can host large crowds during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Cinemas around the world are in desperate need of content to fill their big screens right now and Australia is delivering the goods with first class films for the world to watch. Movies like "High Ground" make you understand why some people are uncomfortable with Australia Day (the official national day of Australia) and protest its anniversary. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 raising of the British flag at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration in New South Wales by the First Fleet.

This film is quite disturbing to watch, given the story and its setting against a backdrop of a dark history. I feel so sorry for what happened in the film, I really feel for the victims.

There are certain things that will either be enticing to the viewer or annoying to boring. In this case we are talking about a more or less simple story, with clear "bad guys", but also a lot of shading when it comes to the good people (and some of whom we'd call bad). So while we have some cliche and paper thin morals at certain moments, they do not feel fake.

Quite the opposite it feels as real as possible, especially the people who play the natives, who also have different layers to them and different reactions to the invasion and provocation. This really is gritty and therefor not to everyones taste - it does what it says though and in a very engaging way! Not just decent, but really good!

Following on in the footsteps of recent Australian success stories The Dry and Penguin Bloom, locally made feature High Ground continues on a strong showing of home grown offerings that finally seem to point to the Australian film industry once more getting back to a point where we are developing quality products that can compete with worldwide produce.

Directing his first film in 19 years following the release of the well-regarded Indigenous themed Yolngu Boy all the way back in 2001, filmmaker Stephen Johnson does a fantastic job of capturing the time and place of the early 1900's Northern Territory of Australia where a small group of soldiers loyal to crown and country find themselves embroiled in deadly game of cat and mouse between a tribe of Aboriginals that have a right to be seeking retribution following a callous attack on their communities years previously at the hands of white colonials.

Amongst this group of soldiers is Simon Baker's marksman Travis, a kind-hearted if forlorn soul whose rescuing of young indigenous boy Gutjuk comes full circle when the two are asked to join forces to help track down Gutjuk's uncle Baywara who has gathered together a mob that have been responsible for various attacks on white settlements across the land.

Pulling no punches in the way it deals with past horrors and the truth of early settlement in parts of Arnhem Land in this time period, particularly with a haunting and confronting opening act that will leave many viewers reeling from its frankness and rawness, High Ground is a visceral film and perhaps one of the best products yet when it comes to capturing the beautiful but dangerous landscape of the "real" Australia courtesy of Johnson, cinematographer Andrew Commis and an undoubtedly wearied drone operator.

Allowing the sounds and sights of the land to take hold of its story and its viewers, High Ground enraptures with its visual splendor and keen eye but its familiar story and uneasy narrative flow holds it back from becoming the Australian classic it may've been, even if its cast of industry veterans and newcomers all give it there all as we are taken on a story of revenge and soul searching that never surprises in regards too where it heads.

In what is arguably his best big screen role to date, Simon Baker is on fine form as the hard to read Travis, while supports from the likes of Jacob Junior Nayinggul as Gutjuk, Sean Mununggurr as the menacing but rightfully so Baywara and scene stealer Witiyana Marika as Grandfather Dharrpa ensure that this is a showcase for local Indigenous screen talent and recognizable faces such as Callan Mulvey, Jack Thompson and Caren Pistorius round out a top notch Australian based cast.

It's a shame High Ground's various elements never create that magic spark that can be found when the stars align but as an examination of our often unspoken about past and our harsh but spectacular lands, Johnson's film is still to be highly commended.

Final Say -

An at times haunting and captivating Australian film that has an overly familiar narrative and odd flow holding it back from being something truly grand, High Ground is another solid local production from the past few months that goes to show the Aussie film industry is alive and well with talent and stories worth telling.

3 bush plums out of 5

Loved the movie! Interesting story with lots of thrilling and great acting