Film Review Notes Rabbit Proof Fence
The Start of the Film
The film begins with background information, powerful music and what appear to be abstract images.
The vastness of the outback and the girls' daunting trip is highlighted by the opening aerial shots, and additional overhead shots confirm their tininess against the fence.
Name a recurring theme throughout the film.
Throughout the film, the girls are pictured as frightened rabbits trapped on the wrong side of the fence - wide-eyed as if caught in headlights, caged in a hutch transporting them away to the settlement, huddled like baby rabbits on the Bush floor.
The Eagle
Very early in the film, we see the eagle, Molly’s totem, her spirit bird. Her mother tells her the
Eagle will look after her. When does the bird appear again in the film and why?
The eagle symbolises Molly’s freedom. It recurs in her dreams and when she thinks of her mother.
Why is the rabbit-proof fence so important in the film?
The biggest irony lies in this central motif, because it was the fence's construction that brought the children’s white fathers to the previously isolated Aboriginal communities in the first place.
Screenwriter Christine Olsen says, "the fence has always been such an amazing symbol for the Europeans' attempt to tame the land: to draw a line … it's such a magnificent symbol for a lot of what's happened to Australia."
In a particularly moving movement, the fence is touched (swung back and forth)by Molly and the girls and Molly’s mother simultaneously, as a means of calling/communicating with each other, one could imagine that the vibration of movement in the fence is felt by Molly’s mother so many miles away .
The importance of the sound track
Music is used to create mood and atmosphere. Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack Long Walk Home draws power to the scenes. Gabriel has successfully blended traditional aboriginal instruments such as the didgeridoo with the modern instruments to withdraw dramatic emotion.
Camera
The film begins with background information, powerful music and what appear to be abstract images.
The vastness of the outback and the girls' daunting trip is highlighted by the opening aerial shots, and additional overhead shots confirm their tininess against the fence.
Name a recurring theme throughout the film.
Throughout the film, the girls are pictured as frightened rabbits trapped on the wrong side of the fence - wide-eyed as if caught in headlights, caged in a hutch transporting them away to the settlement, huddled like baby rabbits on the Bush floor.
The Eagle
Very early in the film, we see the eagle, Molly’s totem, her spirit bird. Her mother tells her the
Eagle will look after her. When does the bird appear again in the film and why?
The eagle symbolises Molly’s freedom. It recurs in her dreams and when she thinks of her mother.
Why is the rabbit-proof fence so important in the film?
The biggest irony lies in this central motif, because it was the fence's construction that brought the children’s white fathers to the previously isolated Aboriginal communities in the first place.
Screenwriter Christine Olsen says, "the fence has always been such an amazing symbol for the Europeans' attempt to tame the land: to draw a line … it's such a magnificent symbol for a lot of what's happened to Australia."
In a particularly moving movement, the fence is touched (swung back and forth)by Molly and the girls and Molly’s mother simultaneously, as a means of calling/communicating with each other, one could imagine that the vibration of movement in the fence is felt by Molly’s mother so many miles away .
The importance of the sound track
Music is used to create mood and atmosphere. Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack Long Walk Home draws power to the scenes. Gabriel has successfully blended traditional aboriginal instruments such as the didgeridoo with the modern instruments to withdraw dramatic emotion.
Camera