Bran Nue Dae

I didnt' really know how to take Bran Nue Dae at first... I've never really been much of a fan of heavily stylised films or musicals that wear their sense of artiface on their sleeve, so at first I felt like this happy-go-lucky road movie about Aborigines in 1960s Western Australia was a bit too much. It won me over though. It didn't take long, it well and truly had me with a scene near the beginning where a host of Aborigine boys mix traditional Aboriginal dance with a big vaudeville showbiz number during mass while making fun of the Church. It won't be to everyone's taste, but I love it whenever films or books can attack the supposedly unassailable institutions of our society whilst keeping a sense of humour. What's not to like about that?

Willie (Rocky McKenzie) is a teenage Aborigine in 1969 Broome. His mum (Ningali Lawford) wants him to be a priest but he's a young man at the mercy of his hormones, and he has it bad for Rosie (Jessica Mauboy). Willie is sent to a seminary in Perth run by Father Benedictus (Geoffrey Rush), an eccentric German priest armed with a neverending supply of Cherry Ripes. Willie quickly gets fed up with the hypocrisy fo the dominant white culture though and runs away, becoming one of the city's homeless Aboriginal population. He meets Uncle Tadpole (Ernie Dingo), an alcoholic larriken who helps Willie hitchhike back to Broome with a pair of roadtripping hippies (Missy Higgins and Tom Budge).

The Aboriginal members of the cast have the most fun with it, maybe because they're a bit more relaxed with the subject matter... Ernie Dingo (in one of his increasingly rare returns to acting) in particular is funny and moving as Uncle Tadpole, he represents Willie's future and the hopelessness of Aborigines brought up within the white system, and he gives an incredibly even and honest performance. Deborah Mailman also seems to be having a lot of fun playing against type as a drunken floozy. On the other end of the spectrum though is singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, who is just plain embarrassing in her acting debut.

The only real standout song for me was Nothing I Would Rather Be, I can't say much of the other music made much of an impression. What I liked though was the way the film leans on kitsch and irony to subvert the musical genre and talk about Aboriginal issues. It uses an infectious sense of humour to lull the viewer into a false sense of security before getting to the heart of the matter, exploring the way Aboriginal culture has been eroded by white ideals of assimilation. It even touches on the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody. And despite these lofty allusions, it's a film short enough not to wear out its welcome or get too bogged down in accusations of guilt, which I think makes it just about perfect as far as intelligent works of entertainment go!

DIRECTOR: Rachel Perkins
WRITER/SOURCE: Script by Rachel Perkins and Reg Cribb, based on the musical play Jimmy Chi and the band Kuckles.
KEY ACTORS: Rocky McKenzie, Ernie Dingo, Geoffrey Rush, Missy Higgins, Tom Budge, Jessica Mauboy, Ningali Lawford, Deborah Mailman, Magda Szubanski, Dan Sultan

RELATED TEXTS:
- Bran Nue Dae, the first Aboriginal musical stage play, written by Jimmy Chi in 1990, and with songs by the Aboriginal band Kuckles. Ernie Dingo starred in the first production.
- A53 minute documentary (also called Bran Nue Dae) was made about the original stage play in 1991.
- The recent 2007 version of Hairspray is the most similar film I can think in terms of tone and the way it deals with race relations in the 1960s.

AWARDS
AFIs - won Best Supporting Actress (Deborah Mailman). Also nominated for Best Film, Best Score, Best Sound, Best Costume Design and Reader's Choice Award.