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CHARLIE'S COUNTRY Send This Review to a Friend
Judging by the new film “Charlie’s Country,” directed by Rolf de Heer, there is still discrimination against Australia’s Aboriginal population in certain sections of the country. The chief character whose life illustrates the point is Charlie, played by the quietly charismatic and moving David Gulpilil, whom I fondly remember for his excellent performance in the 1971 film “Walkabout,” also set in Australia.
Charlie would only like to live in peace in his own home, but is resigned to living in run-down quarters and is repeatedly hassled by police. On the one hand he is greeted with familiarity, but he is always given a rough time. If he carries a spear for old-fashioned hunting, he gets hassled for walking about with a dangerous weapon. His independent spirit repeatedly gets him in trouble.
Charlie is a kind man who tries his best to fit in where he can, but he knows that as an Aboriginal he faces discrimination and repression. For example, we see that Aboriginals must have special permission for buying alcohol.
Charlie’s situation worsens as the film progresses, and we feel for him as a decent man caught in the ongoing history of his ethnicity being regarded as inferior. It definitely isn’t Charlie’s country. A Monument Releasing release. Reviewed June 5, 2015.
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