Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

“Rabbit-Proof Fence” is a bit of a conundrum. Upon watching this film, I was immediately taken aback with the steady use of widescreen cinematography, which graciously captured the beauty of Australia, despite the racist backgrounds. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, without giving too much away; I was unaware of the non-fiction elements surrounding these events. “Rabbit-Proof Fence” equally provided an unknown chapter of Australia’s history, while also being an emotional challenge from start to finish. With such powerful, and compelling, arguments for this film, why was there a conundrum? With such strong, documentary-like features, one could expect this to be a brilliant cinematic entry, yet what was troublesome, was that “Rabbit-Proof Fence” was only about average amongst films of this nature. From a historical standpoint, it provided a new chapter unbeknownst to me concerning the racism, or eradication of the Aborigines race from society, but the ultimate pitfall of this film is the lack of depth in a “PG” rating. Not that tortured children need to run the gamut of every historical film, but there was nothing (sans perhaps one scene) that demonstrated to me that these refugees were struggling in any way. From the moment of escape until the emotional ending, not one time did I feel that these children were in danger; every scene possible was of them receiving help from either other Aborigines or from native Australians. When these three girls made their presence known on screen, we were at a happy moment – nowhere within the 900 miles did we see famine, fatigue, or even pain. One could argue that the collapse in the desert is one of them, but it doesn’t arrive until the end of the feature. Up until that point, we are left to assume that this is a simplistic walk and that any cuts found upon their legs were cautiously placed on from a make-up department head on the edge of the framed shot.

I do not want to seem unsympathetic to the plight that these young girls took, it was not only a message to the Aborigines people, but also deflated the power of the Chief Protector (played by Kenneth Branagh – oddly, miscast in this feature). This film was a struggle, it was emotionally draining to watch these girls desire nothing more than to just go home – but where “Rabbit-Proof Fence” fails is the lacking realism. The reality that these girls made this trek is real, the struggles and hardships of what was happening in Australia during this time is real, the help seen from within – both from locals and other Aborigines – was very real, but the physical journey seemed too “glossed” to truly find yourself lost within these events. When the girls are walking, their hair remains in place, they never change weight, and there seems to be no horrifying event happen to them (i.e. bones broken, animal attacks, or even Mother Nature). It seemed perfect, and that is what irked me about this film, the images of hope overweighed the images of struggle. Director Noyce did not give us a balance, thus never quite reaching that true emotional punch at the end.

Secondly, the concept of the “Rabbit-Proof Fence” was surprising, I had no notion that this even existed, and after watching this film I wanted to know more. This was another pitfall to this film. Noyce should have given us, either in words or images, a bit of a history of the fence, and what it represented. The symbolism throughout the film became apparent, but knowing more about this fence would have only strengthened the cause. Finally, did anyone else wish that we could spend more time with the reconstruction camps and not with Branagh? Again, not knowing enough about these camps, I wished to see what the religion was doing to these children. I feel like we didn’t get enough of this to fully see the horrors that were happening. We heard Branagh’s speech about “why” these were created, but it would have been interesting to hear it from the women of the robe’s mouths. There needed to be more of an emotional strain when these children ran away, I wanted to see that they desired to escape the teachings, not just go visit their boyfriends.

With that said, everything else that Noyce did worked perfectly. The score by Peter Gabriel was fantastic, adding to the sounds of the Aborigines. The cinematography was perfect. The widescreen shots, seen on a projector screen, were breathtaking as we traveled along the outback. “Rabbit-Proof Fence” was a decent film. It was a great history lesson, and compelled me to learn more about a country I hardly think about in my day-to-day life. My biggest issue with this film was the lack of “realism” surrounding the girls’ journey. I wanted more emotion, more hardship, more struggle – the lack of such made me feel like I, a average guy could make this journey.

Found in one of my newer books, "Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life", you may have already guessed it - I am in the "R"s. My first outing, rather bland, but looking forward to what the next chapter will bring. For "Rabbit-Proof Fence", it is a simple pink mark. I can recommend this film to friends, but I could not sit through it again. Just felt unrealistic and lacking in the exciting narrative.