Agreeing to live with her cattle rancher husband in the Australian outback circa 1900, a young woman finds her preconceptions and views on the world at large changed in this iconic drama, based on actual events. Having never lived outside the suburbs and finding herself with no Caucasian female company at all, 'We of the Never Never' at first seems predictable with lead actress Angela Punch McGregor undergoing many trials and tribulations adjusting to her new life. The plot soon thickens though as she befriends the local Indigenous Australians and finds herself at odds with her Caucasian companions (including her husband),who treat the Aborigines as second class citizens. Particularly compelling are the maternal instincts that swell up inside her as she bonds with a young Indigenous girl without strong parental figures in her life. The question then arises of whether she actually has the girl's best interests at heart by taking her away from her family and basically trying to adopt her. Further questions of inference arise with an Indigenous man who she tries to force to take medicine, and it is all endlessly engaging as we witness a character with more moral fibre than those around her wrestling with whether or not her generosity is in fact beneficial. The less said about the strained relationship with her husband and Arthur Dignam's hardly remarkable performance the better, but this is Punch McGregor's film all the way with a special mention to the breathtaking majestic landscape photography that makes the outback seem more alluring than ever.

One of Australia's most famous novels of the outback "We of the Never Never" ('Never never', as in once there you'll either never never want to leave - or never never want to return!) has been filmed to perfection by a great crew and faultless cast of actors.

This is as close as you'll get to the Outback, as it's changed much since the movie was made over two decades ago. All the equipment had to be hauled in from Melbourne, many thousands of miles overland. Jeanie Gunn was a woman far ahead of her time; she only wanted to learn from the Aboriginies and like them was marginalized. The only woman for hundreds if not a thousand miles, her story is one never forgotten.

Now available as a special edition DVD with a retrospective 'making of' and a memorable documentary.

I found this a very beautiful film, with charismatic leads and a very realistic portrayal of outback hatdships, the predicament of the aborigines, and the fleetingness of life amidst death. It looks great and has a good romantic score. I felt for this couple, shared their hopes and their losses. My only gripe is that I may have watched a cut version, as there seemed to be a few jumps in time, and not enough of the interesting background characters