Rabbit-Proof Fence
Cast
Everlyn Sampi as Molly
Tianna Sansbury as Daisy
Laura Monaghan as Gracie
David Gulpilil as Moodoo, tracker
Ningali Lawford as Maud, Molly's mother
Directed by
Phillip Noyce
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
5/10. A critically acclaimed movie and a cynical fourteen-year-old walk
into a movie theater...no, it's just not a bad joke, it's the truth.
I am the cynical fourteen-year-old, and Rabbit-Proof Fence is the
critically acclaimed movie, though it's hard for me to figure out how
it is.
Three kids, Molly (Everlyn Sampi), Gracie (Laura Monaghan), and Daisy
(Tianna Sansbury) are three "half-caste" girls, half Aborigine and
half "white man". A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh) is in charge of all
Aborigines and tries to wipe out their culture and making them have
Western culture. Gee, that doesn't seem at all like the United
States' plan to a certain Middle Eastern country at all. Anyway,
Molly, Daisy (who are sisters) and Gracie (who is their cousin) are
sent to a reservation, but they decide to run off back to their home
with no water, no food, and just a rabbit-proof fence to guide them,
while Neville is trying to capture them.
For a supposed bad guy to not be bad, or to have heroines not be
heroic, that's never a good sign. Relating back to Iraq, President
Bush is revered by many and is trying to influence other cultures,
while Neville had everyone against him. I didn't find Neville to
be "evil", he did just what he thought was right, and he certainly
wasn't cruel or anything. He didn't want the kids dead. The three
girls were foolish to think that they could survive for two months
without any aid from anyone else.
Branagh was very good, but he needed more screen time. How long can
you keep attention on three girls walking? The girls have much to
learn in acting. "Wide-eyed cuteness" can only get you so far. Great
acting isn't just reading, it's emotion, and if these kids work
again, they'll need to know that.
Rabbit-Proof Fence has booming music in the middle of the desert
where there shouldn't be any noise. Sure, Philip Glass' score is
excellent, but there isn't any for a lot of the time, so the
unnecessarily booming score was wasted. One part that seemed odd was
that eagle, that, in the beginning, was told that it brings us hope,
and we don't hear of it again for one hour or more, and then it comes
up again. It should have been kept in our minds for the time.
On the contrary, it was solid entertainment. Of course, I did know
that because of the narration with Molly, she was going to live
(unless it was American Beauty-esque, but I digress), and there was
going to be a final confrontation, but I wasn't sure of exactly how
it was going to turn out, which kept me interested and not focused on
the flaws of the film. It is a tremendous true story, but the way
it's presented isn't that great.
It seemed to have been dramatized just for movies, since everything
seemed so intense and overdone. Also, if they were out in the sun for
two months, wouldn't they be sunburned and the whole nine yards?
Rabbit-Proof Fence is just another "remarkable true story with one
big star in it and many unknowns who will never work in films again."
It's not worth seeing unless you're really into this type of film.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG for emotional thematic material.
Running time: 94 minutes
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