Sweet Country (2017 film)
Sweet Country | |
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Bunya Productions[1] | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Languages | English Arrernte |
Sweet Country is a 2017 Australian drama film, directed by Warwick Thornton. Set in 1929 in the sparsely populated outback of the Northern Territory and based on a series of true events, it tells a harsh story against the backdrop of a divided society (between the British settlers and Aboriginal Australians) in the interwar period in Australia.
It was first screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival in September 2017 and after winning the Special Jury Prize award there, went on to win several awards internationally.
Plot
Sam Kelly is a middle-aged Aboriginal farm worker in the outback of Australia's
Later, Harry visits the farm on which Sam works looking for a runaway Aboriginal youth named Philomac, who had escaped after Harry had chained him up to stop him from stealing. Harry fires rifle shots into the house then kicks in the door, leading Sam (who is inside with Lizzie) to pick up a gun and kill Harry in self-defence.
Sam goes on the run from the law, setting out with Lizzie across the
Cast
- Hamilton Morris as Sam Kelly
- Sam Neill as Fred Smith
- Bryan Brown as Sergeant Fletcher
- Thomas M. Wrightas Mick Kennedy
- Matt Day as Judge Taylor
- Ewen Leslie as Harry March
- Natassia Gorey-Furber as Lizzie Kelly
- Gibson John as Archie
- Anni Finsterer as Nell
- Shanica Cole as Lucy
- Tremayne and Trevon Doolan as Philomac
- Luka Magdeline Cole as Olive
Origin
The storyline of the film was inspired by the true story of an
The Northern Territory was officially part of the
Themes and genre
The film is an example of the "
Set in outback
The characters and story play out against the character of the harsh yet visually stunning country, and the cinematography is an essential element of the film.[2]
Production
The film was shot largely at Ooraminna Station, a cattle station about 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, not far from the Simpson Desert. A town built on the station for the film The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (directed by Leah Purcell[11][12]), which included a police station and general store, was used for the town scenes. Many cast members were Aboriginal Australians and locals from Alice Springs were employed as extras.[13]
Reception
The film was well received by critics and audiences alike, winning the Audience Award at the 2017 Adelaide Film Festival.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 8.21/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sweet Country makes brilliant use of the Australian outback as the setting for a hard-hitting story that satisfies as a character study as well as a sociopolitical statement".[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[15]
It received positive reviews from many reviewers,[2][9][8][16] with one calling it Thornton's second masterpiece, and one of the best Westerns and Australian films of the century.[10]
Film festivals and awards
Sweet Country premiered at the 74th Venice Film Festival on 6 September 2017, where it won the Special Jury Prize award.[17][18] Shown in the Platform section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[19][20] it won the Platform Prize.[21] It won the Audience Award at the 2017 Adelaide Film Festival[22] and the Best Feature Film at the 2017 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.[23]
Accolades
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
AACTA Awards (8th)[24] |
Best Film | David Jowsey | Won |
Greer Simpkin
|
Won | ||
Best Direction | Warwick Thornton | Won | |
Best Original Screenplay | Steven McGregor | Won | |
David Tranter | Won | ||
Best Actor | Hamilton Morris | Won | |
Best Supporting Actress
|
Natassia Gorey-Furber | Nominated | |
Best Cinematography | Warwick Thornton | Won | |
Best Editing | Nick Meyers | Won | |
Best Sound | Sam Gain-Emery | Nominated | |
Thom Kellar | Nominated | ||
Will Sheridan | Nominated | ||
David Tranter | Nominated | ||
Best Costume Design | Heather Wallace | Nominated | |
AACTA International Awards )
(8th |
Best Direction | Warwick Thornton | Nominated |
Adelaide Film Festival (2017)[25] |
Best Feature
|
Won |
References
- ^ "Made in SA Showcase". SAFC. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d Hall, Simon (3 January 2019). "Film Review: Sweet Country". Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- Northern Standard. No. 47. Northern Territory, Australia. 2 August 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 22 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Willaberta Jack (from the CAAMA Collection)". Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- Sunday Extra. Interviewed by Morrow, Julian. Retrieved 25 October 2022. (around the 14th minute)
- ^ "Some known frontier conflicts in the Northern Territory". Australian Frontier Conflicts 1788-1940s. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ Lennon, Troy (21 January 2018). "Australian 'meat pie' westerns have been around for more than a century". Daily Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d Johnston, Travis (5 January 2018). "2018 Australian Film Focus: Sweet Country". Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ a b c Hillis, Eric (22 March 2018). "Review: "Sweet Country"". New Jersey Stage. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ a b Buckmaster, Luke (24 January 2018). "With Godless and Sweet Country, the western is alive and bristling with energy". Daily Review. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (2020) - The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Leah Purcell starts shooting 'The Drover's Wife the Legend of Molly Johnson'". IF Magazine. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ Hose, Nick (27 November 2016). "Alice Springs filmmaker returns to desert to share tale of rough justice". ABC News. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ "Sweet Country (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ "Top 5 Movies In The World (May 2018)". WittyJoe. 5 March 2018. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ Anderson, Ariston (9 September 2017). "Venice: Guillermo del Toro Wins Golden Lion for 'The Shape of Water'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
- ^ Anderson, Ariston (27 July 2017). "Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Darren Aronofsky". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ Kay, Jeremy (3 August 2017). "'The Death Of Stalin' to open Toronto Film Festival Platform programme". Screen Daily. Screen International. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (17 September 2017). "Toronto: 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' Captures Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ Bunya Productions: Sweet Country
- ^ "Australia's Sweet Country Wins Best Feature Film At 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- AACTA. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ "Warwick Thornton on Sweet Country: 'Australia is ready for films like this'". The Guardian. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
Further reading
True story origin
- "Harry Henty". Territory Stories. Libraries & Archives NT. ANZACrecord, life, etc., with many links to photos and articles
- Henty-Gebert, Claire (2005). Paint Me Black: Memories of Croker Island and Other Journeys. Aboriginal Studies Press. p. viii-ix. ISBN 9780855753993. Tells the story of Henty's death, and a child fathered by him born posthumously, and cites further sources.
Film reviews
- Catsoulis, Jeannette (5 April 2018). "Review: 1920s Australia is no 'Sweet Country' for Aboriginal Australians". The New York Times.
- Glasser, Joyce (9 March 2018). "Mixing history and legend director Warwick Thornton delivers a powerful Australian western". Mature Times.
- Salvo, Natalie (17 January 2018). "Film Review: Sweet Country (Australia, 2018) is Australia's answer to To Kill A Mockingbird". The AU Review.
Analysis of issues
- Crispino, Lucio (13 October 2019). "Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country: a tragic investigation of race on Australia's frontier". The Conversation.
- McLaren, Annemarie (3 April 2019). "A Many-Sided Frontier: History and 'Shades of Grey' in Sweet Country". S2CID 182332811.
This article considers Sweet Country as a historical account of colonialism, scripted, directed and produced by an Indigenous team. It explores how the frontier and race relations are constructed, and how history is merged with myth and narrative to create a potent period piece with the timelessness of an epic and the urgency of the present.
External links
- Sweet Country at IMDb
- Sweet Country at Rotten Tomatoes