Sydney Film Festival 2006: Opening Night:Ten Canoes, directed by Rolf de Heer 2006.If you haven't heard about Ten Canoes by now you should have. Directed by Rolf de Heer, the film has been making waves in the industry culminated by a successful showing at Canne that led the special jury prize in ''un Certain Regard". Why is it getting so much attention?
Well largely I feel the film demands the attention it is getting due to its incredibly unique nature. Quick! Name 3 movies featuring a purely indigenous cast.....I'm still waiting....well if you can then you are better than me at your cinema trivia. But as silly as I am being about this there is a serious point to be made here. Even recent films like Malik's The New World feature the native americans after the coming of the white man. Really I think you would have to go back to Nanook of the North to find anything that comes close to Ten Canoes.
The film may have made by a white director but in reality he often served as a facilitator providing the technical know how to a people who have next to no experience with the medium of film.
Featuring an entirely aboriginal cast, and spoken in the aboriginal language (with the exception of some english narration from famous aboriginal actor David Gulpilil) the film is a simple story, yet as David narrates "I'm going to tell you a story, not your story, my story."
Playing with time the film operates in the present, the recent past, and the mythological past. Each time period is represented differently. The present is shown in a certain stylistic color choice, while the recent past is in black and white. Finally the mythological past is shot in vibrant color.
The reason why I included Balanda and the Bark Canoes in the title of this post is it strongly tied to the film. Balanda is a documentary on the Ten Canoes and I think that if it is possible you should watch this film along with the actual feature film. It reveals the trials and hardships that went into making the film reality while also giving you a glimpse of the people and passion that comprised the film itself.
What you are watching when you watch the Ten Canoes is a people and a culture who have been brough to the brink of extinction fighting back and trying to recapture and preserve a small part of who they were and still are....
At times de Heer's visuals rival those found in a Malik film, a perfect compliment to the poetic narrative of the aboriginal people. It is also a surprisingly funny film, driving home the point that no matter how different we may appear to be, there are still striking similarities. In talking with de Heer he mentioned that you can not accurately represent the aboriginal culture if you do not represent the humor, "They love to laugh".
Unfortunately I do not know how widespread of a release the film will get, but if you find the chance to see the film, don't pass it up.
*** and a half stars for the film and the documentary.
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