Camden New Journal - Movies: Ten Canoes

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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 31 May 2007

Lyrical scenery doesn’t help a confusing story

Tribal grunts and gestures

TEN CANOES
Directed by Rolf de Heer
Certificate 15

THANKS to Mel Gibson with The Passion of the Christ (Hebrew) and his amazing Apocalypto (Mayan), other film makers are climbing on the bandwagon to explore ancient history with dialogue in the native language and sub-titles to make sense of it for the rest of us.
Somehow this Australian foray into the Yolngu tribe set a thousand years ago has been picking up awards all over the place, even though most of the film is filled with grunts and gestures as the painted Aborigines carve out a precarious living in the primeval swamps.
The story unfolds in a series of clashes with rival tribes, with a young warrior (Jamie Dayindi) coveting his brother’s wife amid predictable results of mayhem and bloodshed.
The photography (from Ian Jones) lends a lyrical quality to the scenery, but the overall result is more confusing than fascinating.

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