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Australia 2007
Directed by
Peter Carstairs
85 minutes
Rated M

Reviewed by
Sharon Hurst
4 stars

September (2007)

Synopsis: In the Australian wheat belt in 1968 two young boys who share a passion for boxing are firm friends. Sixteen-year-old Ed (Xavier Samuel) is the son of a wheat farmer whilst Paddy (Clarence John Ryan) is the son of an Aboriginal farm hand who helps out on the property.  Their friendship is to be tested, firstly when Amelia (Mia Wasikowska) comes to their town but even more so when new laws state that indigenous workers must be paid the same wage as whites and Ed’s father can’t afford to do so.

This is the first film to come out of the Tropfest feature program. Director Carstairs says the film developed out of a single image – that of the boxing ring in the middle of an open space and the characters moving in and out of it. Strong images are indeed crucial to the overall feel of this film, from its opening shot of a wheat field and an old bus moving through the Outback, the camera tracking the bus. We then see a pensive young man, Ed, sketching a boxer, and young Paddy helping his Dad with the fencing, literally in the middle of miles of nothing. The measured tempo helps to build the feeling of time and place and allows the characters to settle into their surroundings while we the audience can absorb it all. So much about the isolation and harshness of the lifestyle is implicit the many shots of the horizon, the waving wheat, the lonely homestead and the ragged little shack in which Paddy’s family live. So many of the shots are extremely beautiful as is the accompanying music score.

The friendship of the boys is beautifully handled with the two young actors having spent some time together to develop the bond that translates to the screen. The quiet, easy camaraderie is never laboured, presented in small ways through them hanging around sharing a cigarette and Paddy running every night to meet Ed’s schoolbus and ask about his day in school. Ed helps Paddy to learn to read and the boys dream of the impending day when Jimmy Sharman’s boxing troop will come to town. These young actors, both with a modicum of prior experience, are excellent in their roles, whilst the supporting cast also do a top-notch job. Kieran Darcy-Smith plays Ed’s father, Alice McConnell s his mother, Kelton Pell is Paddy’s father and Lisa Flanagan his mother. Young Wasikowsa shines in her small role as Amelia.

When Amelia turns up things start to become strained with the troubles being exacerbated by the new work laws. With indigenous issues so much in the present day news it’s interesting to see some of the prior history and politics subtly dealt with in a film such as this – there’s never an overt political statement – just a sad undercurrent of the huge gulf between black and white lives and the enormous problems faced by poor white pastoralists who had always had free labour in exchange for board and food but were then expected by lawmakers to pay wages which they couldn’t afford.

This sort of film is often referred to as “small” and in terms of budget it is it is but for those audiences looking for authenticity, especially in the Australian vision, this is just the sort of story to satisfy emotionally. With many lovely elements of a classic coming-of-age story, combined with a smattering of our cultural history, it’s definitely worth seeing.

 

 

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