Video/DVD Review: Rabbit-Proof Fence
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this is an intense drama depicting
three Aboriginal children leaving an Australian internment camp
in an attempt to reunite with their families. The scene of the
government official taking the children away is intensely
emotional, though only moderately violent. During the journey
home, the children are hidden by an Aboriginal servant in her
bed, and her master is surprised when he goes to sleep with her
and finds the children. A confrontation between a British
official with a gun and an Aboriginal mother with a spear is
tense, but results in no use of force.
Families can talk about true stories. Do you believe that this
movie is 100 percent fact? How would you find out? What do you
think of popular movies' ability to tell history? Do you think
you get an accurate picture of what happened? Does you care
more than if you read about this practice in history book?
Set in 1931, RABBIT-PROOF FENCE brings to the screen the horrific consequences of a British policy that removed Australian children who were of mixed white/Aboriginal background from their homes (a practice that continued until the 1970s). In this true story, Molly Craig (Everlyn Sampi), her sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury), and their cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan) are all "half castes," what the British call children of mixed-race couples. Their British fathers have long since left, and their homes are with their mothers in Jigalong, an area along a rabbit-proof fence that cuts through the middle of Australia. British officials, wanting to improve the upbringing of all half-castes, forcibly take the children to an internment camp where they are to be trained as domestic workers and integrated into society. Once there, Molly's longing for her home is so strong that she makes an escape with her sister and cousin, following the fence to get back to Jigalong.
The children's performances are quite strong. While appearing courageous on their treacherous journey, they are also able to show their hidden fear. This film does not simply cast the British as unsympathetic villains; while they do believe the Aborignie is an inferior race to the British, their desire to recapture the escaped children is motivated at least partly by a fear for the children's well-being.
While the tale is emotionally charged, it is appropriate for any older children or tweens who are mature enough to handle the scene of the children being taken away from their parents.
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