Rabbit-Proof Fence

Movie Review by Peggy Sugarman

Director: Phillip Noyce
Screenwriter: Christine Olsen
Based on the true story by Doris Pilkington Garimara
Starring:
Molly: Everlyn Sampi
Daisy: Tianna Sansbury
Mr. Neville: Kenneth Branagh
Gracie: Laura Monaghan
Moodoo: David Gulpilil

Run time: 95 minutes.

I was slated to review another movie for this issue, but Rabbit-Proof Fence caused such a whirlwind of emotions that I am helpless to do anything but write about this movie. Mea culpa.

Screenwriter Christine Olsen is a documentary filmmaker who was in search of a feature story. She found it in the book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, an Australian woman of Aboriginal ancestry. Doris was haunted by her Aunt Daisey’s extraordinary story, and so wrote Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. Christine Olsen writes of the tears she shed upon reading this story and vowed to obtain the film rights.

The story highlights the European fears and anxiety over mixed-race people and the extreme governmental policies in Australia that emerged from this deeply-rooted racism. While none of us are strangers to what racism can produce (the despicable slave trading and sale of humans that took place between the America’s and Africa; apartheid in South Africa, the Holocaust) I was only vaguely aware of what was going on in Australia. This movie highlights, in a very personal way, the “stolen generations” that are the product of this thinking.

Briefly, the right-wing white government in Australia decided in the early 1900’s that the offspring of white men and Aboriginal women (called “half-caste”) were a menace to society and must be “saved from themselves”; the thought that these half-white children were living with their Aboriginal mothers was morally reprehensible. In 1905, a law was then passed that allowed the Chief Protector of the Aborigines to forcibly remove these children from their mothers and place them in various institutions to provide for their “education” into white society, which consisted of preparing them for menial labor.

Serving from 1915 to 1940, Chief Protector A. O. Neville was obsessed with the concept that Aboriginal blood could be bred out if the “half-caste” if they were kept from having children with “full blood” blacks. After three generations, the Aboriginal appearance could be entirely erased. Since, he reasoned, the Aboriginals were unlikely to survive at all, it was considered imperative to eliminate it from white society where the presence of blacks was a threat to their social stability. So strong was this thinking that the forcible removal of “half-caste” children from their mothers continued until 1970, in blind denial of the pain and suffering caused to the mothers and their children. This denial stemmed from their belief that the Aboriginal peoples were savages – a common theme among white settlers and native peoples the world over.

It is against this background that we meet Molly, Daisy and Gracie, who were stolen from their mothers in Jigalong in 1931 and taken to the Moore River Native Settlement – a “school” set up by the Australian government. Led by Molly Craig, who was 16 at the time, they escaped from the school and began their 1500-mile journey back home. Molly knew that she could get there by following the “rabbit fence” – a fence constructed in Australia to keep the non-native rabbit from the farmlands.

The story is gripping and will evoke a variety of emotions: Rage and disgust at the policies carried out by Chief Protector Neville (Kenneth Branaugh); wrenching heartbreak for the mothers and children who suffered from these governmental actions and complete admiration for these three girls who simply said “No” and meant it.

Director Phillip Noyce searched Australia for the native actor in remote areas. Finding the beautiful Everlyn Sampi to play Molly Craig, Noyce compares her star quality to Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie. While Laura Monaghan (Gracie) and Tianna Sansbury (Daisy) are excellent, the movie is driven by the fierce determination of Ms. Sampi. We become acutely aware of her steely qualities when, after arriving at the Moore River Native Settlement, she is summoned to the front of the group to submit to an inspection by Neville as he determined the degree of lightness in her skin. When her name is called, a resident urges her forward. “Quickly. They’ll beat you.” But Molly doesn’t jump up quickly.

It doesn’t take Molly long to decide that she wants to go home to her mother, despite seeing the punishment meted out to another girl who attempted to escape but was found by Moodoo “the tracker”. Moodoo (David Gulpilil) is a strong character in the film-- not that he had a lot to say. Indeed, I can only remember two lines. But those lines sum up the heart of the movie. His face tells a story unto itself. Also an Aborigine, he understands.

The fact that the girls could survive a 1500-mile trek through the deserts of Australia is, in and of itself, a phenomenal feat of strength and bravery. The fact that they could do so while trying to evade capture is what makes this story so moving. The film is a tribute to the power of journalism and the impact film-making can have on shining a light on injustice that might otherwise be forgotten or ignored by the rest of the world; a way to make history more knowable and accessible. It is, simply, a “must see” movie. No, make that a “MUST SEE" movie.

Special thanks to Christine Olsen for spending long hours with the real Molly and Daisy in Jigalong so that the story would be authentic, to Doris Pilkington Garimara who wrote the story so that it could be shared with the world, to Phillip Noyce for finally seeing the light and taking a look at the screenplay, and Peter Gabriel for the haunting musical score. You provided something very valuable to the world. Not many people can say that.

Peggy Sugarman has spent 25 years working in California's workers' compensation system, having served 8 years as the Chief Deputy Director of the state's regulatory agency. She holds a Master's degree in Counseling and is currently consulting for the California Applicants' Attorneys Associa-tion -- an organization of attorneys who represent workers and fights for legislation to help workers who are injured on the job. She occasionally writes for on-line publications and is working on her first novel. She and her husband and two daughters reside in Oakland, California.

You can email Peggy with movies you’d like to see reviewed at Psugarman@earthlink.net