SWEET COUNTRY

Australian western set on the Northern Territory frontier in the 1920s, where justice itself is put on trial when an aged Aboriginal farmhand shoots a white man in self-defence and goes on the run as a posse gathers to hunt him down.
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A very slow burn movie but riveting. Amazing that it was shot in just 21 days. Without being preachy or moralising, it forces us to think about the deep roots of racism and the oppression of the First Australians which effects last to this day. One of the characters in the film says, at one point, something to the effect of, ‘What hope is there for this country?”. It’s a profound question that modern Australian society needs to grapple with. The acting in SWEET COUNTRY is good all round. But it’s the Indigenous actors who are stunning. Many of them are not professional actors. The story unfolds with slow inevitability. There is no soundtrack at all apart from an apt Johnny Cash song as the titles roll at the close of the movie. Having no music in the film is a perfect choice. The cinematography is stunning and symbolically conveys the desperate survival challenge of all characters as they navigate their inner struggles as well as the physical challenges. Warwick Thornton’s directing is incisive and the editing is brilliant. Patience is required to watch SWEET COUNTRY. But it brings great rewards and provokes some deep and necessary thinking. Don’t miss it on the big screen.