Charlie’s Country

The fourteenth film by Dutch-born director Rolf de Heer gives free reign to the charismatic acting of Aboriginal David Gulpilil (Walkabout, Rabbit-Proof Fence), who won the Un Certain Regard Best Actor award in Cannes for this role. He gives a passionate performance as Charlie, a ‘black fella’ caught between two cultures in the remote Northern Territory. The police are watching him, but also make use of his knowledge of the area.
Charlie himself despises the police, who built a station on land taken from him. He increasingly comes into conflict with the authorities, who first confiscate his gun, and then even his spear. A disaster, as hunting is his only means of obtaining food. He withdraws further and further into the bush, where he tries to take up the traditional Aboriginal way of life.
What follows is an immersion in the Australian outback, with crystal-clear sounds of birds and insects. The empathetic screenplay was written in close collaboration with Gulpilil. With Critics’ Talk on Thu 29/1 in the lobby of LantarenVenster

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