High Ground

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.

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

This film was truly exceptional, though I think that to truly appreciate it you need to be, or have lived in Australia. A lot of beautiful shots and sound effects, felt like a documentary sometimes but this added to the film and didn't ruin the pacing. You always heard the sound of the wind and the birds, a lot of effort was put into this to make you feel like you were always out bush. Would highly recommend.

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!

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.