High Ground

High Ground is one of those really good films that seemed to have got lost in the Covid Pandemic. Released last year to an open air audience in Perth Australia it's seems to have gone under the radar since . Which is a shame

In a bid to save the last of his family, Gutjuk, a young Aboriginal man, teams up with ex-soldier Travis to track down Baywara, the most dangerous warrior in the Territory, his uncle.

The first thing that hits you about the film is the setting and cinematography. Kadadu , Northern Territory looks absolutely stunning and a big credit must go to the Director Stephen Johnson and Cinematograper Andrew Commis.

The second is the acting . There are good performances all round but the stand outs are definitely Jacob Junior Nayinggul who plays Gutjuk and Simon Barker who plays Travis .

The story is about revenge but the problem is both sides want it .

You watch this and you release how the Australian police didn't care about aboriginal life at all and it's a real eye opener .

Recommended.

Inspired by real events.

The film is set in the 1930s, North Australia. High Ground follows two men who both have a past filled with pain and hurt. Travis (Simon Baker) is a gun for hire and a skilled bounty hunter. Daily, he is filled with guilt and is haunted by his dark past. He also seeks redemption for his wrongdoings. The second man is a young indigenous man named Gutjuk (Jacob Junior Nayinggul), whose past includes witnessing his own family get brutally murdered when he was just a young boy. From being a sole survivor as a child, Gutjukwas taken away from his village and put under the care of another. As Gutjuk becomes a young man, he receives word that his uncle, Baywara, is still alive and is currently a wanted man for crimes around the Northern Territory. Now, both Travis and Gutjuk will team up and work together to try to save the last of his family. The question is, can these two men work together, trust one another, and find peace from their dark past?

High Ground is a brutal film and a gritty revenge tale. I cannot deny the film can be unsettling at moments due to the dramatic themes and because its story is based on actual events. The action here is also quite violent and realistic. The visuals and filming style are a knockout. Filming styles, including close-ups and use of drones or overhead shots, have been used to show off Australian landscape and animals. The sound design and effects are brilliant. Sounds such as gunshots and other environmental noises (such as grass, wind, bees, birds) are all positives in the film. The sound effects here also help create added tension and suspense during critical moments.

Performances are solid, particularly from Jacob Junior Nayingul as Gutjak. Gutjak as a character is dealing with many challenges as a young man, along with having to make hard choices such as who can he trust and which side should he take. Other actors including Simon Baker, Jack Thompson, Aaron Pedersen and Callan Mulvey all bring something fresh, and I feel they were rather convincing on screen.

The film begins with a gruesome, heartbreaking first act, and a general plot is set up shortly after. The film's pace for me would best be described as a slow-burning revenge tale, and it is filled with unpredictable and tense moments. The pacing, while it is slow, never felt dull. I will admit there was a moment in the film that felt like a final climax, but to my surprise a final, second climax was yet to come. Some edits also seemed questionable as scenes ended and suddenly cut to a shot of birds flying. Moments like this felt out of place and abrupt. While images of animals certainly look real for most of the film, there was one moment, including flying birds which did make me question if it was CGI and not real.

Overall, this is a gruesome and gritty revenge tale which is based on actual events. The film's plot is engaging and unpredictable. Performances are stable, and the film's visuals along with all the use of sound effects are equally impressive. As the credits rolled, I was generally left feeling rather impressed and touched by what I had witnessed in my cinema. I was also surrounded by the silence of other viewers. While it is filled with unsettling moments, it's certainly an Australian film worth supporting on the big screen.

7.1/10 - Walkden Entertainment

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

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.

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!