Views from Western Australia

I have read a number of reviews of this movie from US critics and overall they have panned it.  So I went along last night wondering if  producer Baz Luhrmann had really got it so wrong.  While not a particular fan of ‘epic style’ movies; i think the US critics got it wrong - not Baz - as they did not understand the story!   Sure it had the usual elements of a great saga: family, war,  action, along with a cattle station, a corrupt business rival and romance . Nevertheless, it was essentially a story about how Australia treated its Indigenous people for most of the last century.  It told the story of ‘drovers boys’, it showed that the ‘Stolen Generation’ was essentially about the abuse of Aboriginal women by white men, it showed the role of the police in child removal, it showed the role of the churches in running the institutions, it showed the various ways mothers tried to stop the removal, it displayed an element of the authorities dismissal of the feelings those mothers had for their children, it demonstrated the disregard some of those white fathers had for their children.  It also had some very strong symbolism and the roles played by two Aboriginal men - especially the grandfather figure - who gave it a real edginess.  In my view this film is a worthy successor to ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’; as it takes the story, to the next level.