This film has quite a few remarkable features. First of all is its title which is rather unusual and immediately grabs one's interest. Next there is the fence itself which runs for thousands of miles to protect what few green plants there are in these desert regions from the voracious appetites of millions of wild rabbits. This fence plays an important role in this true story. Then there is the diector who not only scoured the continent to find three suitable aboriginal girls to play theleads but moulded these inexperienced beginners into the believable characters of Molly, Daisy and Gracie. The director Phillip Noyce has achieved remarkable success in creating three good little performers and should be given full credit for his difficult task.
For those who do not know the desert regions of Australia, it must be said that the "outback" country is harsh and cruel and can only be crossed by those with experience...those with a knowledge of the land. I think the camera makes it clear that the hostile environment is very much like a fence in itself...almost impossible to cross. All the more remarkable therefore that these girls accomplished what they set out to do. May be it was a reckless decision they made but thanks to the fence they found their way back to family and friends.
The film is largely a record of the long trek and the manner in which the children are able to survive. There are not many dramatic moments on their journey south. The children are mainly concerned with avoiding the blacktracker who is following them. The most unforgettable scene comes early in the film when the children are forcibly torn from their mothers. This is truly heart-wrenching stuff.
This thoughtful presentation is worth watching. It is part of Australian history.
Rabbit-Proof Fence
2002
Action / Adventure / Biography / Drama / History
Rabbit-Proof Fence
2002
Action / Adventure / Biography / Drama / History
Plot summary
Western Australia, 1931. Government policy includes taking half-white, half-Aboriginal children from their Aboriginal mothers and sending them a thousand miles away to what amounts to indentured servitude, "to save them from themselves." Molly, Daisy, and Grace (two sisters and a cousin who are fourteen, ten, and eight) arrive at their Gulag and promptly escape, under Molly's lead. For several days they walk north, following a fence that keeps rabbits from settlements, eluding a native tracker and the regional constabulary. Their pursuers take orders from the government's "Chief Protector of Aborigines", A.O. Neville, blinded by Anglo-Christian certainty, evolutionary world view, and conventional wisdom. Can the girls survive?
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Top marks to the director
compelling historical drama
It's 1931. The government in the Chief Protector of Aborigines A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh) is the legal guardian of every Aborigine in Western Australia. Government agents would remove half-caste children from their parents. Sisters Daisy and Molly Craig along with their cousin Gracie are taken from their tribe, the Jigalong mob. Molly's father is a white man who was working on the rabbit-proof fence. She leads the trio in an escape. They follow the fence back home tracked closely by native Moodoo. Neville directs a massive manhunt to find the three little girls.
It's a compelling historical drama. The little girls are great especially Everlyn Sampi. It also has the great David Gulpilil. Seeing the real Molly Craig and Daisy Craig Kadibill in present day is what truly kills me. It's an amazing true story.
We Always Know Best
This is a film about the arrogant superiority of Western culture. It's about a group of people, minding their own business, that must be saved by a government, immersed in Christian pomposity. The children, the heroes of the film, face amazing obstacles, just to return to their lives in the desolate Australian outback. The British governors and their ilk feel they are doing them a favor, setting them up in menial jobs, taking away their culture and their language. But, in this case, the human will is going to challenge that force and attempt to right things. This sort of stuff has been going on for centuries. Those that have the word can't be satisfied with it; they must take away the basic human rights of others and force their beliefs on them.
This film is suspenseful and riveting. It is set in a bleak, arid climate. The rabbit proof fence is there to ward off the overpopulation of rabbits, introduced late to Australia. The fence, of course, is a symbol for separation of cultures. The aborigine population are anathema to the new invaders and, in some ways, equal to the jackrabbits populating their side of the fence. See this movie. It's an eye opener.