Movie Type: Social Problem Film, Psychological Drama
Themes: Social Injustice, Race Relations, Switching Sides
Main Cast: Tommy Lewis, Freddy Reynolds, Ray Barrett, Jack Thompson, Peter Carroll
Release Year: 1978
Country: AU
Run Time: 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Based on a novel by Thomas Keneally, which was in turn inspired by actual events, this drama is a shocking indictment of the racism inflicted on the indigenous people of Australia. Jimmie (Tommy Lewis) is a half-white, half-aborigine young man raised by a Methodist minister. Feeling outcast among the aborigines, Jimmie moves to the city and gets a job working for a white family. When a white serving girl at the estate becomes pregnant, everyone is convinced that Jimmie is the father; to spare the girl's honor, Jimmie marries her and is allowed to live with her on the estate. But after the child is born, everyone realizes that the father was a white man, not Jimmie; he is still willing to accept the child and stand beside his wife, but his employers now feel that he married a white girl under false pretenses, and they bar him from the estate. Forbidden to see his wife and fired without receiving his pay, Jimmie finally explodes in a fury of violent revenge. Director Fred Schepisi's original cut of this film runs 122 minutes, though it was more widely distributed in a shortened version running 108 minutes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A difficult film that was one of the most shocking products of the Australian New Wave, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith demonstrated that Fred Schepisi was a director willing to handle explosive subjects. Schepisi had made The Devil's Playground two years earlier; in this film, he tackled a true story that had been semi-fictionalized by Thomas Keneally. It's a blazing indictment of Australian racism, centering on the mistreatment of a young half-breed aborigine (Tommy Lewis) raised by a Methodist minister. He gets mixed up in sexual politics, accused of misdeeds involving a white girl, and eventually goes on a murderous rampage. Schepisi's task is a thankless one, helped immeasurably by Lewis' portrayal, which helps audiences sympathize with a victim who becomes vengeful. Schepisi went on to a Hollywood career after this film won international acclaim. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Elizabeth Alexander - Petra Graf; Ruth Cracknell - Mrs. Heather Newby; Don Crosby - Mr. Newby; Julie Dawson - Martha Neville; Arthur Dignam - Man in Butcher Shop; Steve Dodds - Tabidgi; Jane Harders - Mrs. Healy; Ray Meagher - Dud Edmonds; Angela Punch - Gilda Marshall; Tim Robertson - Healy; Rob Steele - Claude Lewis; Peter Sumner - Dowie Stead; Bryan Brown - Shearer; Thomas Keneally - Cook; Robyn Nevin - Mrs. McCready; Brian Anderson - Hyberry; John Bowman - Mullett; Marshall Crosby - Peter Newby
Credit
Bruce Finlayson - Costume Designer, Daro Gunzberg - Costume Designer, Fred Schepisi - Director, Brian Kavanagh - Editor, Bruce Smeaton - Composer (Music Score), Wendy Dickson - Production Designer, Ian Baker - Cinematographer, Fred Schepisi - Producer, Fred Schepisi - Screenwriter, Thomas Keneally - Book Author
The story is written through the eyes of an exploited Aborigine who explodes with rage. It is based on an actual incident. Keneally has said he would not now presume to write in the voice of an Aborigine, but would have written the story as seen by a white character. For Schepisi the film's reception was a disillusioning experience and he left Australia soon after to work in Hollywood, returning to Australia ten years later to make Evil Angels.[1][2]
The film won the Best Original Music Score (Bruce Smeaton), Best Actress in a Lead Role (Angela Punch McGregor) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ray Barrett) and was nominated for 9 more awards at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) for 1978. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
