Tens of thousands of children, the "Stolen Generations", were forcibly removed from their families between the 1880s and 1970. The three girls in the movie escape the settlement where they are taken and WALK the 1200 miles back home.

The vulnerability and fragility of these children as they make their way home is terrifying to watch. Their perseverance and courage--in amounts no child should ever have to demonstrate--is admirable, to say the least. These children and other characters in the film personify how minds and spirits aren't as easy to colonize as lands and bodies. Still, there is no simple happy ending to this very intense film.

The acting is impeccable. Minimal dialogue for the children, but it is amazing what they convey with their faces, with the tears they shed, and those they don't.

The book upon which the film is based was written by the daughter of Molly, the oldest of the girls feature in the movie.

The parallels to American slavery were stark and added an additional unsettling layer.

This is probably a blink and you'll miss it film wherever it's showing, so please check it out.

Deesha

quote:

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Originally posted by utzworld:
Hey Dnice, I moved your topic here at "Spoilers" because of the detailed info you gave us about the film...okay?

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Oops...thanks, Chris!

This is a hauntingly beautiful film (what faces, what a landscape!), which only serves to make the tragedy at its core stand out all the more. Noyce extracts remarkably naturalistic performances from the 3 extremely charismatic first-time actresses (particularly the feisty lead, Everlyn Sampi). Nice to also see the great Aboriginal actor David Gumpilil, the then-youthful co-star of the 1971 culture-clash cult film Walkabout, here in a sly, somewhat villainous role. Loved the indigenous Peter Gabriel score as well. This is a fine, non-exploitive, deeply-humane film.

The DVD "extra" feature on the casting, training and on-set experiences of the young novice actresses is a must-see. You won't soon forget these girls.