Jedda

In 1955 when I was 14 years old, my mother and I emigrated to Australia. I went to 8th grade just outside Sydney -- Cremorne Girls High School. The opening of "Jedda" the first Australian color feature film was a very big deal there. In fact the opening of any film was a pretty big deal there, entailing reservations and dressing up.

In "Jedda," the title character, an aboriginal girl is brought up by a white family that adopts her. As a young woman, she is mysteriously drawn to go "Walkabout" as people of her tribe have for hundreds of years.

It must have been a good year for films. "Rock Around the Clock" heralded the dawn of rock 'n roll and "Black Board Jungle" launched the career of Sidney Poitier in a tale of urban classroom violence. "Rebel Without a Cause" came out in 1955 too. I can't remember what films I saw in any particular year before or since more vividly than these. Among those classics, the now unknown "Jedda" stands out with lasting images of a beautiful aboriginal woman, stunning countryside and the residue of an emotional wallop that keeps me thinking and wishing I could see it again over 45 years later.

When some of the people here who have reviewed this film say the bad and wrong things about it they obviously have a rather misunderstanding of film making. This film, made in 1955 should not be compared to films off today. Yes, they killed animals in it but that was the way of life in the outback then, the film shows realism. Yes it was shot on location in the Northern Territory, however from what I have researched the last reel was lost and had to be reshot. Because of the expense of going back to the NT it was shot in the Blue Mountains. So be it many films are reshot in different places.

Enjoy JEDDA for what it is, an outstanding film of its day and far, far better than many films made now in 2019.

Pretty boring story and plot. Nothing complicated and fancy, pretty flat plot.

Cinematography is ok, but acting is quite bad. I dislike classical training acting, but this is mediocre even for their standards.

I expected something much better than. I found it in comments about tribal movies ( after seeing "Tabu: A story of the south seas (1931)" and "White shadows in the South Seas (1928) which i liked" .

Idk, this movie didn't age well, but the story is pretty annoying at times, esp the beginning.

Of course, the white, Christian people are the right, all-knowing people who try to force their beliefs on anyone else of the infidels. You see how that white missionary woman is forcing the little girl to get the western, white beliefs because the little native girl MUST wear clothes and shoes, MUST play the piano, speak English and have a western thinking and not be like the rest of the kids in the area. I know, that was the thinking back than, and it was "normal" for the time period, but it still annoying to watch.

Then you have a love story, or love triangle if you like, but that that story is flatter than your grandma's love books lol. The overall drama in the movie is very non-dramatic and boring.

Overall, nothing interesting and worth watching. One of many movies that didn't age well at all. But i have a feeling that it was not great even when it came out. The 30s movies i watched and liked are also not-great as acting, nor do they have very complex plot and story , but they are miles ahead of this movie. Much better cinematography as well.

After reading a previous comment on the film while researching information for an essay, I was edging to make a correction. Here it is:

Because Jedda was the first colour film to be produced in Australia, the printing technology had not actually yet reached our shores, so all the colour film reels had to be sent to England to be developed. While to reels reached England quite safely they were unfortunately damaged on their return and almost all the footage was lost. Charles Chauvel lacked the extra budget to go back out onto location, and found it much cheaper to bring all the cast to him. Thus most of the film had to be reshot in the Blue Mountains, between Sydney and Canbera, instead of on the original location.

To quote from Wikipedia: Originally the movie was filmed on location in the Northern Territory in Australia. The production process itself was a laborious process as the colour technique used, Gevacolor, could only be processed overseas in England. The film produced was fragile and heat-sensitive, which was a problem as the Northern Territory has a typically hot climate; film was stored in cool caves to protect it from deteriorating. The last roll of negative was destroyed in a plane crash on its way for developing in England and the scenes were re-shot at Kanangra Walls in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

The reviewer that said the film wasn't filmed on location is clearly wrong. It was only the last reel that was lost.