Satellite Boy

Synopsis: Pete (Cameron Wallaby) is a twelve year old Aboriginal boy who lives with his grandfather Jagamarra (David Gulpillil) in the remote West Australian town of Wyndham. Pete has seemingly been abandoned by the mother he is sure will come home one day.  When Pete and Jagamarra are threatened with eviction from their home, an abandoned drive-in cinema. Pete decides that he has to go to the far-away city to save his home.

Catriona McKenzie has worked extensively as a television director and Satellite Boy is her first feature film. Written by McKenzie it is a character-driven story with young Cameron Wallaby a perfect choice for the character of Pete, an engaging young rascal looking for a simple solution to a complex problem. He is well supported by Joseph Pedley, who gives a realistic performance as Pete’s slightly older trouble-making friend who is facing youth detention. Balancing them and representing traditional Aboriginal culture, David Gulpilil is effortlessly convincing, although he is limited by the material as he really doesn’t have much to do except talk (his role is more significant in the thematically-similar Charlie's Country which was released the same year) . I was also impressed by the portrayal of non-Aboriginal folk. They have been characterized carefully as well-meaning and sympathetic and not simplistically as white oafs come to trample the indigenous people’s homeland (even if this is ultimately what they are doing).

I would have liked to have seen more development of the support characters. Satellite Boy has a limited presentation of females who mostly see themselves as second class citizens, with mothers portrayed as either materialistic or alcohol-dependent and the one female teenager we meet is too underdeveloped to tell what path she will take in life. There is no hint of why women want to leave town or indeed whether they can, given that the main female character who has left town is living off a man. Which then begs the question, what does this say about the men? Jagamarra’s behaviour gives no hint about his attitude to women and we never hear about Pete’s father.

Just as the boy’s journey from their remote home to the mining company’s HQ in town accounts for most of the running time, so a considerable  portion of the pleasure to be had is from is the stunning photography of the Kimberley landscape by veteran Australian cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson.  The film was shot on Arri Alexa, the 2010 digital motion picture camera system which has been extensively used for television but also in films including Life Of Pi which won last year's Academy Award winner for Best Cinematography.  Indeed Satellite Boy which premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival and was also shown at the 2013 Berlinale looks so good that it is hard to envisage expensive film stock being used in future for modest films like this one.

The gentle tone for the film is set by the musical score, featuring a theme by David Bridie (The Man Who Sued God and numerous television credits). Judicious use of the light, rather boppy, theme assists with the good pacing and helps the film to avoid both tub-thumping and melodrama.

I am not sure that the choice of title is doing the film any favours. “Satellite Boy” sounds like a cartoon character and whilst this film is fable-like its intentions are more serious-minded than simply being a disposable piece of entertainment.  Also, the idea of a satellite suggests a solitary object rotating around a bigger planet whilst this tale is about a boy who is torn between two worlds. However, the “satellite” does have some visual relevance part way through the story.

What Satellite Boy does best is portray a twelve year old boy struggling to deal with being part of two cultures at the same time. Pete likes the toys and gadgets of the modern world, and is disdainful of his heritage until he and Kalmain become lost in the outback and have to rely on past lessons from Jagamarra. It’s a simple premise that perhaps could have be presented with greater subtlety, particularly in its latter stages, but by-and-large Satellite Boy is well-paced, good-hearted and never looks less than splendid.

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