HIGH GROUND, Australia, 2020. Starring Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Sean Mununggurr, Guruwuk Munungurr, Simon Baker, Jack Thompson, Callan Mulvey, Caren Pistorius, Ryan Corr, Aaron Pedersen, John Brumpton. Directed by Stephen Johnson. 104 minutes. Rated MA (Strong violence)
A number of years ago, 2001, director Stephen Johnson made a film with an Indigenous theme, Yolngu Boy. High Ground is an ambitious film. It continues the challenge, dramatised in a number of films, especially Sweet Country, for honestly examining the life of the Australia’s First Nations peoples after 1788 – acknowledging the oppression, the massacres, and exploitation.
The first part of this film is set in 1919, the aftermath of World War I, where Australian First Nations soldiers served. The action is in Arnhem Land, and the scenery is sweepingly beautiful – the flora and fauna used in ways to remind audiences of the links between the First Nations peoples and the land.
We are introduced to a group of First Nations people who are undertaking various rituals in preparations for a hunt. However, the hunters are being pursued by a group of white trackers. The trackers attack, massacring the First Nations people, but a young boy, nephew of the leader, survives.
One of the pursuers is Travis (Baker), who has an overview of the attack but is not an immediate party to the killings. He rescues the boy from his hiding place and takes him back to the local mission where he is cared for by the pastor (Corr) and his sister (Pistorius). The massacre is covered up by the authorities.
The narrative moves to 1931. The mission continues in its work and the boy, now called Tommy (Nayinggul), has grown.
In response to news that there has been an attack by First Nations people which has resulted in the death of a white woman, Tommy and Travis are sent in search of the attackers.
There is some bonding between the two but the past is never forgotten and violence is never far away.
The experiences of injustice, harshness of racism and vengeance, continue to be a challenge for a contemporary audience. They’re also an invitation to honesty and acceptance of the facts of racism and violence.
Madman
Released 28 January
Peter Malone MSC is an associate Jesuit Media