Based on a historically tragic episode of racism and injustice in the name of "progress" perpetrated by the white settlers on the Australian aboriginal population, Rabbit-Proof Fence is a heart-warming tale of a long journey to freedom undertaken by a young half-aboriginal girl.
It is 1931 and a stern Mr. Neville is in charge of handling "half-caste" aboriginal children, which involves separating (stealing/ kidnapping?) these kids from their families in the bush and taking them to a faraway camp community. "The native must be helped in spite of himself," he says utterly convinced of his mission. The law that was passed to "help" the natives is based on simple eugenics, as Mr. Neville explains to a group of white housewives: it only takes three generations to white blood to turn a half-case entirely white. No wonder the aborigines willfully mis-pronounce his name as "Mr. Devil."
Once collected at the camp the kids, these "natives" and "savages," are taught the rites of "civilization"-- basically, the English language to speak, utensils to eat, Jesus and Mary to pray -- all the while showing complete subservience to the nuns, who begin their harsh training by literally scrubbing the native out of the children's flesh. Those who dare to run away to try and return to their loving families are quickly apprehended by experienced trackers, brought back and mercilessly punished.
We get to witness and experience this historical reality through the eyes of a fourteen year old half-caste girl, Molly, who is snatched along with her baby sister and cousin to be sent to the camp. Her sheer determination and her skills on the bush come in handy when she runs away along with her baby sister and cousin to embark on the more than 1200 miles journey back home to the comfort of their mother and family. One can't help but root for her success in making it back through the treacherous landscape along the rabbit proof fence, predatory informants along the way and the crafty tracker on her trail. The fact that in this one rare instance the girls are able to evade the evil forces and complete the journey makes her a true hero.
Of course, one understands how many others must have suffered same cruel fates but neither possess Molly's determination nor blessed with the twists of happy accidents. For those wronged and unlucky thousands - the "stolen generations" - a life of eternal servitude as domestics or worse, as sex slaves, awaited after the camp.
Technically the movie is well made with little touches of brilliance. Especially well treated is the vastness of the Australian continent, the barren landscape, where the girls must travel. Those sweeping vistas of woods and hills and praire and desert filmed from above look as isolated, dangerous and unending as Molly must have encountered them in her darkest hours. She must overcome not just the personal wrongs of white settler history but the impersonal vastness of the Australian geography.
It is 1931 and a stern Mr. Neville is in charge of handling "half-caste" aboriginal children, which involves separating (stealing/ kidnapping?) these kids from their families in the bush and taking them to a faraway camp community. "The native must be helped in spite of himself," he says utterly convinced of his mission. The law that was passed to "help" the natives is based on simple eugenics, as Mr. Neville explains to a group of white housewives: it only takes three generations to white blood to turn a half-case entirely white. No wonder the aborigines willfully mis-pronounce his name as "Mr. Devil."
Once collected at the camp the kids, these "natives" and "savages," are taught the rites of "civilization"-- basically, the English language to speak, utensils to eat, Jesus and Mary to pray -- all the while showing complete subservience to the nuns, who begin their harsh training by literally scrubbing the native out of the children's flesh. Those who dare to run away to try and return to their loving families are quickly apprehended by experienced trackers, brought back and mercilessly punished.
We get to witness and experience this historical reality through the eyes of a fourteen year old half-caste girl, Molly, who is snatched along with her baby sister and cousin to be sent to the camp. Her sheer determination and her skills on the bush come in handy when she runs away along with her baby sister and cousin to embark on the more than 1200 miles journey back home to the comfort of their mother and family. One can't help but root for her success in making it back through the treacherous landscape along the rabbit proof fence, predatory informants along the way and the crafty tracker on her trail. The fact that in this one rare instance the girls are able to evade the evil forces and complete the journey makes her a true hero.
Of course, one understands how many others must have suffered same cruel fates but neither possess Molly's determination nor blessed with the twists of happy accidents. For those wronged and unlucky thousands - the "stolen generations" - a life of eternal servitude as domestics or worse, as sex slaves, awaited after the camp.
Technically the movie is well made with little touches of brilliance. Especially well treated is the vastness of the Australian continent, the barren landscape, where the girls must travel. Those sweeping vistas of woods and hills and praire and desert filmed from above look as isolated, dangerous and unending as Molly must have encountered them in her darkest hours. She must overcome not just the personal wrongs of white settler history but the impersonal vastness of the Australian geography.
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