Australian Rules

Teenager Blackie lives with his family in the small-town of Prospect Bay in Australia. He is on the local Australian Rules football team, consisting of an even mix of otherwise segregated whites and aborigines. For the first time in decades, the team reaches the championship finals. The town is anticipating the finals, which will also come to reveal the underlying racial conflict. Without the proper Aussie macho manners and with mediocre athletic skills, Blackie is a true anti-hero. At first Australian Rules appears to be a classic underdog-reachestriumph-against-all-odds-film, but soon it becomes clear that director Paul Goldman has set out to tell a completely different story. The main conflict is not that between whites and aborigines, nor is it the fight between the two teams in the final, but between Blackie and his brutal father. The small terror-dome that is Blackie's home is ruled without pardon. Gifted with a verbal talent, Blackie unintentionally developed independence is perceived as threatening by his father. When Blackie's subtle rebellion becomes too apparent, his father strikes back with full force. The tragic event preceding the racial turmoil serves as a tool to enhance the conflict between Blackie and his father, in this delicate rite of passage depiction. Love Gustavsson

Premiärstatus
Skandinavisk premiär: Medverkande
Nathan Phillips, Luke Carroll, Lisa Flanagan, Tom Budge: Producent
Mark Lazarus: Manus
Philip Gwynne, Paul Goldman: Foto
Manoy Walker: Musik
Mick Harvey: Talat språk
English