neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Rabbit-Proof Fence
	Phillip Noyce Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan, Kenneth Branagh 2002		Based on a true story involving a shameful, all-too-recent chapter in Australian history, "Rabbit-Proof Fence" details the daunting odyssey of three Aboriginal children whose racially mixed ancestry resulted in their government-enforced incarceration and education for domestic service. Inspiring and disturbing, this awesome film is an indictment of a bigoted, inhumane system as well as a tribute to the bravery and determination of a trio of young girls. Director Phillip Noyce ("The Quiet American") has coaxed outstanding performances out of Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury and Laura Monaghan as the kids who are torn from their outback homes and relocated to a settlement camp under a program that legally kidnapped "half-caste" children in Australia, between 1905 and 1971, and permanently kept them from their families. In "Rabbit-Proof Fence," the oldest of the girls shepherds the other two out of confinement, and they undertake an amazing 1200-mile journey back to their kinfolk on foot, following a fence that bisects the continent. Kenneth Branagh is calmly despicable as the program's holier-than-thou administrator.