Rabbit-Proof Fence

TIFF [2002]

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Australian director Phillip Noyce, best known for his superb thriller "Dead Calm" as well as two Tom Clancy adaptations, "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger" has brought two truly superb films to this year's Toronto International Film Festival (the second being "The Quiet American"). As of Wednesday, they're still my favourites of the fest; I hope they both win the accolades they deserve.

First up is "Rabbit-Proof Fence," a harrowing fact-based tale of racism that blooms into an inspiring story of courage. It's about three young girls: Molly, 14 (Everlyn Sampi), her sister Daisy, 8 (Tianna Sansbury) and their cousin Gracie, 10 (Laura Monaghan). They're "half-caste," or half-Aboriginal and half-white. Their lives, like the lives of all Aboriginals, are controlled in every aspect by the Chief Protector of Aboriginals, Mr. Neville (Kenneth Branagh). Neville takes these children and places them in the Moore River Native Settlement dormitories, 1500 miles from home, to be trained as domestic servants. But it seems the bureaucrats have underestimated them; they quickly escape and use skills they've been taught throughout their short lives to survive and evade capture. Their only hope to get back to their homes is to follow the "rabbit fence", erected earlier in the century to contain the exploding rabbit population and protect farmland.

"Rabbit-Proof Fence" is, on the one hand, a taut chase thriller, laden with suspenseful moments as Neville, through his Aboriginal tracker Moodoo (David Gulpilil, who was in "Walkabout") plays cat and mouse with the girls. On the other, it's a heartbreaking testament to ravages of racism, the once-pervasive superior attitude of colonialists to native populations. Living in Canada, I couldn't help but think of the similarities between this situation and our "residential schools," now long closed, where native children were taken to be integrated into white society but were often horribly abused. The three girls -- all inexperienced as actors -- seemed to have an innate knowledge of their roles and projected courage and dignity throughout the film. Coupled with truly gorgeous cinematography and a haunting score by Peter Gabriel, this is one of the most satisfying films I've seen in a long time.

- Lidia F