Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

nithig I love this film. First I loved 'The Tracker' because at last the indigenous man is not a victim or worse, a joke. Now comes Charlie's Country. To Australians the very word 'country'signifies the relationship of indigenous Australians to their country. To an international audience I wish to say this: to me a sign of true art is that there are moments of transcendence. Times when it is impossible to connect rational dots any more. Life flows. Then we awaken from this willing trance and watch superb film making happening, telling a real story, not some bullshit story but real, y' know people, my people. In this Rolf de Heer & David Gulpilil have created a play of universality, the essence of being human will be recognised by any viewer especially those who have experienced how devastatingly concrete the raw use of State power is upon an individual; let alone an individual from a totally different culture, a living culture. Welcome to the new world order. And gratitude to these two men who created this film.

eddie_baggins Australia's official submission into this year's Best Foreign Language category at the Academy Awards, famed director Rolf de Heer's raw, uncompromising and impressively beautiful film is easily the most accomplished and important tale to come from our shores in quite some time and acts as a very personal journey for one of our country's most recognisable actors, David Gulpilil.To understand the power of Charlie's Country and the telling nature of its tale, one must look into how the film eventuated and what it harboured for Gulpilil in particular. Despite his success as an actor that started off in Nic Roeg's Walkabout in 1971, Gulpilil had found himself on hard times, the victim as sadly many indigenous people face in the country of alcohol abuse that saw him incarcerated in a federal penitentiary. Friends for many years after their collaborations in 2002's The Tracker and 2006's Ten Canoes (Australian film's worthy of being tracked down) de Heer visited Gulpilil in jail where the seeds of Charlies Country were formed when Gulpilil expressed a great desire to once more work with his friend and director. From there a story that was close to Gulpilil's heart began to be formed and it's where the quiet understated power of de Heer's work stems from.With a mere look, or with the camera following his every move through the vast beauty of the Australian outback or the more scary surrounds of Darwin, Gulpilil commands the screen and de Heer controls this wonderfully, not at all afraid to let Gulpilil's face tell us all we need to know. In what is undoubtedly a match between the actor and the real man, Gulpilil inhabits this man Charlie with a grace and understanding as he struggles to come to grips with his mother country slowly but surely coming under more influence from the white man. This small scale story of one man's trials and tribulations masks a much larger overall problem Australia has at its core regarding the treatment of our indigenousness people and a failure to properly combine the old and the new without losing the connection to the land and customs that for thousands of years have been integral to the culture of these people. All these elements within Charlie's Country play out in such a manner that never becomes overbearing, for there is subtle humour here (water buffalo anyone?) and grace from all involved that gives Charlie's Country not only a heart but a recognisable humanity.It shouldn't be surprising that Charlie's Country is a finely crafted and effective movie, for de Heer has long shown his ability to create memorably moving films and his previous collaborations with Gulpilil are some of the finest ever made in this country concerning indigenous culture. From Gulpilil's award worthy turn (which was rewarded with a Best Actor win at this year's Cannes Un Certain Regard festival), Graham Tardif's beautiful piano score and de Heers professional direction, this is Australian filmmaking and storytelling at its best and a moving portrait of modern day life in the harsh realities of the outback and the lives our indigenous people live in particular.4 and a half hand crafted spears out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check out - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

timbosssss I was captivated by this film from the moment I saw the trailer and after seeing it in the cinema today I walked away unable to think of anything other than what I just saw. This should become an Australian classic in it's approach to what has been seen many times before in Australian cinema. Charlie's Country is a single perspective (as the title hints) that doesn't force anything but rather let's you see life from the perspective of a complicated human who is idealistic yet vulnerable. This handled with precision from it's lead. David Gulpilil's performance in this film will hold you from beginning until the end. His portrayal of Charlie gives important insight to the issues facing the indigenous people who have lived on the land for centuries. Rolf de Heer has chosen to simply capture a character and never sways from his perspective, he unfolds the film in impeccable timing. You can feel the passion for the project through the lens. This role was obviously crafted for Gulpilil (he co-wrote it with de Heer) and this is definitely his career highlight. The camera often holds on his eyes and he has a way of portraying his character just through looks and reactions that never feel contrived or forced.Ian Jones' cinematography with it's careful yet raw tracking shots follow Charlie as he goes about his business, really pulls you in while remaining true to the sometimes harsh landscapes and living conditions. There is a temptation for film makers and cinematographers to oversaturate the landscape or make it look overly bleak and this is handled with utmost care and craftsmanship here.The score by Graham Tardif is minimal and serves the story well, the piano motif's are used in key moments but ultimately represent Charlie's soul. I find that many film makers in Australia often use sound as an afterthought but is used in a very clever way in several scenes, holding the frame and allowing you to simply hear what is going on.It is great to see some fine supporting talent in the likes of Luke Ford, Gary Sweet, Peter Djigirr, Bojana Novakovic and Dan Wyllie. They help lift the film in it's moments of humour and moments of despair, counterbalancing Gulpilil's performance with perfection in casting choice.This is essential viewing for lovers of Australian cinema, and hopefully garners many awards come Australian and International award season. The Cannes Un Certain Regard best actor award was very deserved for Mr Gulpilil.

Likes_Ninjas90 Charlie's Country has a lived-in lead performance, complimented by clean photography, but does the film's love for its central character diminish its ideological objectivity? The socio-political issue the film takes aim at is the restrictions brought upon by "the invention" or the Northern Territory National Emergency Response. Charlie (David Gulpilil) is living in Ramingining, an indigenous community in the Northern Territory, which is a dry area. Charlie is pestered for his welfare payments by his relatives in the area. Although he provides for people, he feels suffocated. He wants his own place, away from all his relatives, but he is told he already has one. He is also frustrated by the restrictions imposed by the local police (one of which is played by Luke Ford). Charlie decides to return to traditional living in the bush. Not only does this make him extremely ill but it also leads him into a new destructive life path while his friends have either adapted to the modern world or they are dying. It takes great sensitivity to write or film a story about cultural problems in any country, given the delicacies of these discussions and the emotions they evoke in people. One can only imagine the difficulty of approaching this subject as an outsider. For a Dutch-Australian filmmaker, who moved from the Netherlands to Sydney when he was eight years old, Rolf de Heer has done remarkably well to make several films about Aborigines. Charlie's Country marks the third part of his indigenous trilogy after The Tracker and Ten Canoes. Each of these films has starred David Gulpilil and although this film is not an autobiography it does contain some biographical elements of this gifted but troubled actor. David Gulpilil has said it is "authentic to my experience of these things". It was his history with alcohol and violence that launched the concept for the film. De Heer visited him in gaol and decided to provide Gulpilil with a film project that he hoped would save his friend from self-imploding. The film's script is co-credited to Gulpilil himself and this has made Rolf de Heer conservative in his approach to the subject matter. Partially a redemption story, the film argues against the restrictions placed on the community by adopting Gulpilil's own values and viewpoint against colonisation. Rather than looking at contextual details like why the alcohol restrictions are emplaced, the film focuses on the lack of money, the poverty and bans on alcohol and traditional methods in these communities. What is troubling about the film is the simplicity of many of these arguments. One example is when Charlie's unlicensed gun and spear are confiscated from him by the police. "I'm not a recreational shooter. I'm hunter", he argues. Would the situation be different for any white person using an unlicensed weapon? In reflection, it is also an uncomfortable scene given that in real life Gulpilil was charged for wielding a machete in a confrontation before being acquitted. By focussing dominantly on the welfare payments and poverty, the film forgoes an opportunity to show the destruction of alcohol in these communities. Surely the burden of alcohol is part of a universal mirror that could be held up to all Australian societies today. Using a moderately light tone, the subject of intoxication is approached through comedy. Some of the film is quietly funny. One gag shot frames Charlie and his friends drinking in front of the alcohol prohibition sign so they can't be punished. Simultaneously, isn't the joke also soft- peddling the seriousness of the issue? The most damaging of any alcohol related crimes in the film is when Charlie buys grog for a black woman who has been banned from drinking. Out of anger he smashes the windscreen of a police car. Gulpilil's own alcohol related crimes were domestic related and more serious and violent. He served time in gaol after he fractured his wife's arm by throwing a broom at her. When de Heer visited him the director said that he was looked after. The film's version of his incarceration isn't subtle. It lunges desperately for our sympathies. The prison sequences starts with a medium close-up shot similar to the Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket where Charlie has his head and beard shaved off, followed by repeated images of slops being served and the camera scanning pedantically over the top of a barbed wire. Yet if there is any reason to see the film it is for Gulpilil's performance which is the cornerstone of the entire story. Using his background and the autobiographical details, he completely dissolves into the character but also shows us just how effortlessly he can inject humour and emotion onto the screen as well. He is an engaging presence and undeniably talented. He is also one of the reasons why the film is never short on personality because the decision to have long shot durations and unbroken takes is mostly justified by his purposeful facial expressions. We can see the internal conflict as he watches other people sink by him, forcing him to reconsider his future. I would have liked to have seen this fine performance attached to a less compromised film though. Although the ending features a beautiful dance it is also merely a short-term resolution for Charlie's problems. Nonetheless, perhaps the very sight of this actor taking his opportunity with both hands will be the most significant message for anyone watching this film. A life salvaged, temporarily, by art.