Dutch Australian film director Rolf de Heer take a look of the years running problems of Aboriginal Australians in his last movie Charlie's Country which is shown in many festivals around world. We see the problems caused by two sides from the eyes of an old and stubborn member of Aborigins, Charlie who feels like a outlander on his own lands.
Charlie can't accept being assimilated or living like how white Australians impose with the help of his stubborn and shrewd character. With the stunning performance of David Gulpilil Charlie represents all his nation with his riots, outcries, falls and obedience. He makes same mistakes that his nation did but also resists to forget his roots deep in the lands. He is driven away from his village to wild, from there to the big cities and it's crowd and chaos. It takes time for him to accept that this land is same land he loves with every living on it even it has changed.
Director's style resembles our Cannes awarded director Nuri Bilge Ceylan with long cuts and silent scenes. Showing same scenes in different spirits and witnessing alteration of Charlie in these scenes can be boring. And yet this style of filming helps a lot to feel the characters and their states better and deeper. Audiences feel all strugglings of all Aborigins from the eyes of Charlie.
Fortunately de Heer was in theater for answering questions of us. His care to Aborigins impressed me and hearing all questions about Aborigins proved that he did really good job in his movie with making a difference for Indigenous Australians in the eyes of everyone who watched the movie. That means shooting the target you aimed. I hope it will not take centuries to solve all issues in Australia as he said.
