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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Rabbit Proof Fence (2002)

Happy Tuesday everyone! After this weekend’s delight that was The Sapphires, I was reminded of another film that dealt with some of the issues mentioned, but dealt with in a more dramatic fashion. Rabbit Proof Fence, directed by Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm), saw him return to his native Australia to film an adaptation of Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is based the true account about the author’s mother a mixed-race Aborigine, who along with two other girls, who ran away from the Moore River Native Settlement in Western Australia, to return to their families, after having been placed there in 1931. The settlements were used by the Australian government to make the “half-castes” ready to integrate into white Australian society as domestics, with the hope that they will eventually marry and further dilute their Aboriginal blood.

Remarkably, in the film (as in real life) the girls walked along 1,500 miles of the Australian rabbit-proof fence to return to their community all the while with the law and an indigenous tracker on their trail.

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The cast included Evelyn Sampi, David Gulpill, Deborah Mailman (of the aforementioned The Sapphires), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Kenneth Branagh.

Check out the trailer here:

 

Be sure to check out other Overlooked films at Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: The Indian Runner (1991)

This week’s pick is 1991’s The Indian Runner, directed by Sean Penn (directorial debut) and starring Viggo Mortensen and David Morse as brothers who could not be more dissimilar.

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The Indian Runner is the tragic tale of two brothers – Joe (Morse), the one who stays on the straight and narrow, a man of the law and Frank (Mortensen), a troubled, restless soul who constantly finds himself on the wrong side of the law. Frank drifts in and out of everyone’s life without much explanation – he just is. This aimless drifting includes a stint in Vietnam (the film is set in the 1960s) and a little later on, serving some time in the slammer. Upon release from prison, he returns home after a double tragedy – the death of their mother and their father’s subsequent suicide.

In spite of his best efforts to get his life together, including sticking around for the impending birth of his daughter and landing a steady job, Frank manages to finds himself again at odds with the law; this provides a continued source of conflict between him and Joe.

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Please be forewarned, this film is a downer that does not let up. That said, as a first time feature it holds together well enough that I think the emotional ride you find yourself on while watching it is well worth it. I am not sure about its video availability but if you have HD cable television, it airs on the MGMHD.

The supporting cast of the film includes Charles Bronson, Patricia Arquette, Sandy Dennis (in her final screen role) and Dennis Hopper (Benicio Del Toro is in it too)!

Fun fact: The film’s screenplay (written by Penn) is based on a Bruce Springsteen song (“The Highway Patrolman”).

Be sure to check out other overlooked/forgotten films by visiting Todd Mason’s blog.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: The Shape of Things (2003)

My pick this week is yet another film I caught on a lark one afternoon while watching cable TV. The Shape of Things is the filmed adaptation of the stage play, both of which were written by Neil LaBute; he also directed it. The movie starred the original theater cast – Gretchen Mol, Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz and Fred Weller.

When I saw this film, I did not know much about Mr. LaBute’s reputation and previous body of work (I know – for shame). I just remember being quite taken aback by the premise of and outcome of the film. Further investigation led me to discover that the dark and twisted complexities of the male-female relationship dynamic are themes common in his oeuvre. It all started to make sense …

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Synopsis (courtesy of Fandango):Paul Rudd stars as Adam, a shy, nerdy English student and museum guard. Rachel Weisz plays art student Evelyn, who, unawares to Adam, takes him on for an ambitious ”project.” He thinks he’s really falling in love with her, but she’s determined to see how much she can transform him into someone else. Co-starring as Adam’s friends are Gretchen Mol and Fred Weller, who can’t understand the new guy he’s becoming.

Check out the trailer here:

Let me know what you think? Is this something you are interested in? Are you familiar with any of Neil LaBute’s other work? Comment below.
* Oh yeah and don’t forget to catch more overlooked films by visiting “Overlooked Gatekeeper” Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.
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