Charlie's Country and another lesser quality movie

 

Last updated 5/14/2016 at 4:06pm

Charlie's Country

David Gulpilil is one of the busiest Australian actors. Whenever a film calls for an Aborigine, Gulpilil is called on. In "Charlie's Country" the focus is on what it's like to be Indigenous in Australia.

David Gulpilil has been around Hollywood movies for a long time. He's the actor most often called when productions need an Australian aborigine (really, it's kind of depressing how often on his IMDB page he's just credited as "Aborigine"), and you've probably seen him in movies like "Crocodile Dundee," "Rabbit-Proof Fence," "Australia," or "Walkabout." He has one of those faces you'll recognize, even if you don't recognize his name. It's easy to see why he keeps getting cast; he has a laconic humor about him, a way in front of the camera that is both mysterious, sad, world-wise and slyly funny. But I doubt he's ever been in a movie like "Charlie's Country."

This film moves Gulpilil from the sidekick/local color role into the leading role, and focuses on what it's like to be Indigenous in Australia today. Gilpilil co-wrote the script-he would throw out suggestions and director Rolf de Heer would shape them into a cinematic narrative-so you can trust that the film hews close to Gulpilil's lived experience. It's an unpredictable, leisurely paced film with plenty of laughs, but also a strong dose of heartbreak.


There are plenty of movies about active, hateful racism, but this one is about passive, complacent, systemic racism, of the kind where those in power probably aren't aware the degree to which they're making it hard for those without power to succeed and survive. The irony of the title is that Charlie is the only one who seems to remember that this is his country. "You didn't find me in the bush," he tells a white fella. "I was born there." And most of the time, when he gets in trouble, it's for doing something his ancestors have done since time began-like making spears or hunting water buffalo.


A lot of "Charlie's Country" is depressing as Charlie first attempts to return to the bush only to realize he doesn't have the skills of his ancestors, then falls in with a group of Aboriginals who spend their time getting drunk and high, and eventually ends up in prison for a short time. But there's a ragged optimism to the film as well, as if it's reminding us that, though things get tough, Indigenous people are tough and don't give in easily. Charlie has weathered plenty from the white fellas, and he's not going anywhere. They may run things, but it's still Charlie's country. This movie is available on Netflix and I recommend you check it out.


"Bone Tomahawk" is about as different a film from "Charlie's Country" as you can get. Director S. Craig Zahler has set out to make a traditional Western in a nontraditional way. First he has to deal with the sexism and racism of his premise-this is a movie about a bunch of cowboys out to rescue a damsel in distress from a band of bloodthirsty savages. He does that by first making the damsel extremely capable and probably smarter than her rescuers, and then by making the bloodthirsty savages something beyond Indians-even the Native people of the area fear and avoid them. It's not even clear if they're actually human-in some ways they resemble the aliens in "Predator" more than homo sapiens. If they are of this world, they're the brown-skinned equivalent of the hillbillies in "Deliverance." All the same, I'm not really sure, given the history of Natives in cinema, that it's enough to say "not ALL Native tribes eat their captors-just this particularly savage band" but, well, it's an attempt.


Patrick Wilson plays a cowboy whose wife (Lilli Simmons) is kidnapped while she's taking care of a desperado, shot in the leg by the sheriff (Kurt Russell). Then they all disappear-kidnapped by a mysterious band of cave dwellers, identified by friendly Native Zahn McClarnon (from "Longmire") as "troglodytes." Russell, his deputy, and a gunslinger in a fancy suit (Matthew Fox) go after the troglodytes, with Wilson hobbling along, refusing to be left behind.

I really enjoyed "Bone Tomawhawk" up until a point. Richard Jenkins' supporting performance as a bumbling back-up deputy is fantastic, and Kurt Russell is just as good as he was in "Tombstone" in fact, his facial hair makes him even look the same. The dialogue is enjoyably funny and offbeat. Many of the early scenes were very good.


But when it approaches its climactic battle, "Bone Tomahawk" suddenly turns into a horribly violent and grisly film, well beyond what I'd expect from a western and into the realm of exploitation films. There are definitely things on the screen I didn't need to see. Add that to the fact that I'm not really convinced that this movie goes far enough to avoid the "bloodthirsty Indians" stereotype of so many westerns, and I have to recommend that, in spite of its many admirable qualities, "Bone Tomahawk" be a movie you avoid.

Charlie's Country

Much of "Charlie's Country" is depressing as it shows David Gulpilil attempting to return to the bush only to find that he doesn't have the skills that his ancestors had. Instead he joins a group of Aboriginals who get drunk and high and eventually he ends up in jail for a short time.

Willie Krischke lives in Durango, Colorado and works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship with Native American students at Fort Lewis College. To read more of his reviews, go to http://www.gonnawatchit.com


 
 

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