It’s so frustrating how this still resonates today.
What it's about
After his gun, spear, and the bounty of his hunt gets confiscated by the police, Charlie, an Australian Aboriginal man, leaves his urban northern Australian community to return to the old ways his people used to live in.
The take
One’s home country should be the place where a citizen has their rights, but that’s not the case in Charlie's Country. At times, the film seems like a simple, straightforward depiction of an Aboriginal man living in a Westernized society, but David Gulpilil, who stars and who co-wrote the script, subtly infuses his community’s rage towards a system seemingly made for them to fail. While the pacing might be frustrating for some viewers, it’s quite a palpable way to recreate the community’s frustration as they bump against the arbitrary restrictions placed on them, but it also emphasizes how necessary art has become as one of the few ways to preserve their culture. It’s because of this that Charlie’s Country is unforgettable.
What stands out
The slow pacing and the stark scoring can make this film just seem like talking, but David Gulpilil’s performance makes Charlie’s words sound true to the real experience their community faces.