“gripping, visually spectacular…a visually ravishing and commendably nuanced” (Hollywood Reporter)
Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s long-awaited follow-up to Yolngu Boy is the most powerful and engrossing Australian film of the year. It takes an unflinching look at the brutal facts of white settlement, facts that we are still coming to terms with. A massacre of Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land in 1919 leaves deeply damaged survivors: Baywara, a warrior consumed with anger and intent on revenge; Travis, a white man with an uneasy conscience and no way out, and Gutjuk, the boy caught between two cultures. This is a film with all the breathtaking beauty and savage ugliness of this country. It is rich in dramatic tension driven by taut, understated performances by newcomer Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Simon Baker, and Jack Thompson in his best role for many years. “urgent and stinging” (Variety)
Stephen Maxwell Johnson
Stephen Maxwell Johnson was born in England though brought up at many spots around the world before his family settled in the Northern Territory. After studying acting and cinematography, he established his production company in Darwin. He directed most of Yothu Yindi’s music clips, as well as Tribal Voice, a biography of Mandawuy Yunupingu. He has directed many episodes of television series such as The Genie from Down Under, Out There, Legacy of the Silver Shadow, Crash Zone, and Dead Gorgeous. His debut feature was Yolngu Boy (2001).
