Tudawali (1987) - full transcript
Biopic that traces the life of Robert Tudawali, the first Aboriginal film star, whose lead role in Jedda the Uncivilized (1955) is iconic in Australian cinema.
(exotic tribal music)
- Jeez, Bobby, you got
the gang by the throat
There's your mrs. with lunch
(laughing)
- Excuse me, which one
of you is Bobby Wilson?
- Here, you're wasting
your time with them mister
- I'm Bob Wilson
- You were recommended
to us by Norm Lockwood
Mr. Lockwood of Native Affairs
Well, the situation is,
that we've been searching
high and low for an
aboriginal boy to play a role
- A leading role I may say,
in a very important film
which Mr. Chauvel and I are making
- What do you want me to do?
- I suppose you could say, it's
something like a corroboree
You act out a story and
we take your picture
A moving picture that is
- You mean like Hopalong Cassidy?
(laughing)
- Exactly
- He seen every Hopalong
Cassidy picture about 10 times
- We're going to make something
rather better than that
But first we have to give you a test
- Okay, turn over
- [Crewman] Speed
- Now, Bobby, concentrate
You are Marbuck, a proud savage warrior
Now let me see it, Bobby,
let me see that pride
Right, now walk in a slow circle
Yes
Yes, think how Marbuck the
warrior would carry his body
Strong, upright
You are tribal, you know only the trees
the rocks, and the rivers
You've come in from the
wild to the capital section
And there are many nervous
come out to watch you
You can feel them looking at you
But
You are a killer
You're a fugitive from the law
and there's the light of
the devil in your eyes
(laughing)
Cut
Fabian, show one
Peggy, Peggy, Peggy, come on
You come here and stand beside Bobby
- No, I can't act
- [Elsa] It's not a test
dear, it's just to help
- There, come on, no need to be nervous
There we are, there's a good girl
Now you just kneel down there
There
Now
For the moment, you are Jedda
An innocent, young, pretty girl,
who's been brought up by
the white station owners
In other words, someone who
is caught between two worlds
You're attracted, mightily attracted,
to this handsome stranger
- Okay, turn over, speed
- Now you Bobby, you have a powerful magic
and you weave a kind
of spell over this girl
You sing her to you
(tribal singing)
Cut
- Something like that?
- Australian Aboriginal
history falls into two parts
18,000 years before
and 150 years after
white colonial imperialism
In other words, centuries
of harmony and coexistence
with this harsh, but fragile landscape
From then, if a smug, white
complacency would only admit it,
A brief, agonized era of despair
This tradition of passive
acceptance may soon be changing
Here at Wave Hill Station
in the Northern Territory,
Aboriginal stockmen of the
Guerengi tribe are on strike
On strike for equal pay with
their white counterparts
As though, black stockmen daring to strike
is not enough in itself,
the strikers are gaining strong support
from other black spokesmen
Among these, is perhaps
Australia's best-known aborigine,
longtime film and television
star Robert Tudawali
- Okay, that's enough
Harry, does it have to be imperialism?
White colonial imperialism?
It's biased, it's not objective
- Since when have we been objective?
- This is not journalism,
this is something personal
Griping
- I would have thought there was plenty
to gripe about about these days
- Did you hear?
He's had an accident
You might have to update
this with a bit of voice over
If it really gets bad, you
can always whiz up there
and get some extra footage
- I just whizzed down from
there, I'm not going Richard
- Harry, now for God
sake, you know the guy,
you just interviewed
him, who else can I send?
- No thanks
- Harry
Okay, what's bugging you?
- The man's a mess, and what he could--
- Newsroom: Tudawali, he's worse
- And?
- Could go either way
- I say that's a long way to come
just to visit someone in hospital
- Well it's partly professional,
he also happens to be a friend
Oh, you got some mates up here have you?
Best little spot on earth, Darwin
You can have Sydney, I've been there once
Up here in the territory,
people are real friendly
you know what I mean?
Who's your mate, I might know him?
- It's possible you do
Tudawali, Robert Tudawali
- Bloody Bobby Wilson
Yeah, I know him alright
He's the bastard that's
been stirring up trouble
with them abo stockmen
- He didn't start any trouble
he just came in as a sort of spokesman
- But there's no real
difference between the way
we treat the white
stockman and the Aborigine
- You forget that we do
have considerable experience
with the native labor
- They get the same wages,
the same conditions, the same
- Same?
Mr. Conroy, as representative
of your English company,
How do you react to
claims that your managers
are paying white Stockman $50,
yet their black counterparts get only $10?
- Well, that's untrue, completely untrue
They get part cash,
but they also get part
credit at the company store
You must realize that one native
may have 15 relatives and we feed them all
- I hope you realize Bobby
Wilson is a very sick man
He's hardly surfaced yet
- How bad is he?
- This may disappoint you,
but he has a fighting chance
Well, bad news is good news
for journalists isn't it?
- Well, this may disappoint you, sister,
but we've been friends for a long time
- Well if he comes around
while you're with him
call for me immediately
Don't start asking him questions
Don't upset or disturb him
Who gave you permission to
go into this patient's room?
- Visitors might get
him over-excited sister
I don't think he should
be talking to anybody
until he's talked to us
- Well, what do you want with him?
It was an accident wasn't it?
How did it happen?
- We're not sure
It was night before the show
The Darwin Agricultural Show
There was a lot of celebrating
and drinking at the Bagot Reserve
There was sort of fight,
some sort of argument
- Fight?
What about?
Why would he?
Surely he didn't just
lie there in the fire
- The alcohol level in
his blood was very high
- Didn't anyone try to help him?
- He was almost gone before we were called
Of course, it may have been a stroke
He has a long history of TB too
I don't think there's
much point Mr. Wilkins,
but if you want to stay a while
- Yeah, thanks
- Ladies and gentlemen of the press,
to play the part of the arch villain,
in the role of Marbuck,
Mr. Robert Tudawali
(people applauding)
Robert is a member of the Tiwi tribe
He was born on Melville Island,
we think some 25 years ago
At the age of 10,
his father moved the family
from Melville to Darwin
This little native boy paddled
the 50 miles of open water
between the island and the
mainland alone in his own canoe
Now as you can see in his early years,
he was a crocodile and a buffalo hunter
But then he took up an
even more dangerous sport,
Aussie rules football
(laughing)
Now Robert is an actor
Both Robert and Rose
took to their new
profession with amazing ease
And we spent eight months
filming in some quite
spectacular locations
And we're going to spend
the next three months
here in Sydney in the studio
Now, if there are any
questions, I'd be delighted
Well, we'd all be delighted to answer them
- Miss Kunoth and Mr. Tudawali,
What's it like being Australia's
first aboriginal film stars?
- I like acting in films
- What did you do before Mr.
Chauvel put you in his film?
- I worked for Mr. Wilson
down at the Ref Base
Did a bit of laboring,
whatever job I could get
- I hope Mr. Chauvel's
paying better money for this
(laughing)
- So do I, otherwise I'll have
to get this flash suit back
- 70% of Robert's salary
is paid into a trust fund
for Bob and his family
The rest is finger money
to do with as he chooses
- Out of all the big city
has to offer, Mr. Tudawali,
would you know what to
spend your money on?
- My wife asked me to bring her back
some nice dresses and a record player
- Mr. Tudawali, your wife Peggy,
why didn't she accompany you?
- She hasn't been too well lately
- Tell me, Mr. Tudawali,
what does roscoeana taste like?
- You tell me Miss, what
does roast lamb taste like?
(laughing)
- You did very well in there,
you're really professional
- Thanks
- I'm sorry about your wife being sick,
I didn't mean to put you on the spot
- That's okay
- It's nothing serious I hope
- TB
- Oh, hell, I'm sorry
- She in hospital?
- Mmm
- How long?
- Doctor reckoned she'd
be in for about a month
- First time in Sydney?
- Yeah
Big place
Terrific
- Well, if ever you need a coach tour,
I mean a look around,
I'd be only too happy
to show you the sights.
This is my newspaper number
and this is my home number
- Hey, you better tell me who you are
- Harry Wilkins
- Is your wife from Melville Island too?
- No, she's Wogait, from Delissaville
About 50 miles from Darwin
They got a big mission school there
- Did you go to school Robert?
- Not for long though
Peggy, she can read and
write better than me
She's always reading books
- But you speak English very well
Want some more corned beef?
- No, thank you
- Why'd you leave school?
- My sister died at school
- Oh, I'm sorry
What did she die of?
- Don't know for sure
A lot of kids got sick at school
My father reckoned school killed her
(laughing)
- I know what he meant--
- Harry!
- Do you and your wife have any children?
- Not yet
But when...
When I do I want the best
Well, I mean, the best I can do for them
- Come on
Come on
You're all wet
(laughing)
- Cut
Cut, cut
- Sorry, you're not a
common sight in a Sydney pub
- Not a common sight
in a Darwin pub either
Not too many of us got the
right to drink up there
- Why?
- Welfare Act
All black fellas were registered
made wards of the government
Not allowed to drink, vote,
and we got to be in at a
certain hour each night
- Jeez
- To protect us from ourselves
Me, I'm privileged
My name's not on the stud book
- My bloody cues bent
Thought I was supposed to be teaching you?
- What are you looking at Snow White?
Come on mate, you're not
playing for a ship station
- We've got another
game yet, goes to three
- Not in this pub mate,
against the house rules
Now...
Take your money and move out sport
- It's my money, put it back
- No one's talking to you Snow White
- Look you heard what he said, put it back
- Hey mate, you are that
filmmaker bloke, aren't you?
Tiddly Widdly
- Tudawali
- Yes, that's what I said
Can I buy you a drink,
never bought a drink
for a filmmaker before
You are going to give him his money back
Give him his money
- You have to try and get more than one
feeling into the scene, Robert
You fight against the
death chant of your elders
You think you can fight it
You think you are stronger than they
But the madness is eating
into your mind
Your will...
We have to see this,
this, this desperation
This madness
- That's pretty good Mrs. Chauv
- Thank you Robert, I
was an actress you know
That's how I met Mr.
Chauvel, in silent films
- Well, ready?
Now remember Robert, get in a deep breath
It's all in the breathing
If an actor has control of his breathing,
he can control anything
he has to do or say
Got it?
- Back on set, please!
- Got it
- Good boy
- And mad, a little bit mad
- Alright, Graham, we'll try one
- Okay everybody, standing by
Turn over
Set slide 784, take one
- Action!
- Our men
Belong tribe
They point a bone at me
They see me dead
I die soon
Mondinka say you're wrong skin for me
If you die
Mondinka happy
Maybe not seeing me die
If you die
That's good
- No, you mad fella!
You mad fella!
- Cut!
- My dearest ladies and gentlemen...
That is approved
- And a wrap
Well done Mr. Chauvel
- [Male voice] Yeah,
Brian, thanks a lot mate
- [Male voice] Good working
with you, this was great
- Didn't know what to get you
- Thanks
It's very nice
A bit flash for me, but...
Thanks
- Excuse me mister, can I take your photo?
Thank you
- [Male voice] Australian
National Airlines
advises the arrival of Flight 36
- Bob, nice to have you back
- Good of you to come and meet me
- Where's Peggy?
- She's at the gate
- Hey Bobby, Bob
Give the local paper a break mate
How was it in The Big Smoke?
Is it gonna be a good piggy?
- [Photographer] What about
you and that little girl?
Hey Bob, let's get the little girl
- Bob, you got a minute?
Give a bloke a break will you?
Just for the local paper please, huh?
Just for a cheap, thanks
We'll just get a shot and a...
- [Photographer] Well, let's
see if it looks good now
Show it how you smiled in The Big Smoke
- [Reporter] Very good, thanks
(people cheering)
(speaking native language)
- Their money
- [Male voice] Come on
you guys, give him a push
- [Male voice] Come on and join me
Come on
- Thought you said you'd look after it!
(coughing)
You come out of hospital too soon?
- I didn't like it
Anyway, you were coming home
- I missed you too
(coughing)
- It was great in Sydney, but...
- Who did you have down there?
You must have had someone,
you like it too much to go without
- Peggy
Come on
I only love you
- Why was it so great then?
Got a lot to fascinate have you?
Did it turn your head did it?
- A bit
People can live good down there
For the first time I got any idea
- You wanna go back?
- If I get another part in a picture
I'll be there like a shot
- Would I come?
- You gotta get better first
Better for me
Have a few kids
Get a nice little house on the beach
Look at this place
No running water, nowhere decent to cook
In Sydney...
You gotta help me Peg
- I can't even help myself
I thought you might go off with her
That Jedda type Rose Kunoth
- Little Rosie, she's only a kid, Peg
She got nothing to do with us,
she's going back to her own people now
- But you did have her didn't you?
You've been with her
- I didn't!
It was acting, acting for the picture
- Oh, I'm sick of that picture
I never want to see,
everything's gone wrong
since that lousy picture
- Peggy, that picture was
the first decent thing
that ever happened in our lives
(coughing)
- Good evening ladies and gentleman
and welcome on this
most auspicious occasion
First film premiere ever
to be held in Darwin
And coming now, I see the film's producer,
the emulant Mr. Charles Chauvel
Good evening sir
- I'd like to take this opportunity
of thanking the people
of the Northern Territory
who gave us so much help
in the making of Jedda
I hope you like the picture
- I'm sure we shall, that
was Mr. Charles Chauvel,
Australia's most eminent
film producer / director
Tonight we are here to preview Jedda,
Australia's very first ever--
- Elsa, where's Bobby?
- Hello, Jacko
- You fellas just got back in time
The boss killed a fat bullet this morning
Plenty of good tackle for everyone tonight
- Hello Billy, how's your big conilly?
(laughing)
- This new fellow, he come
from Walla Walla tribe
Been working on Buffalo
station on green skin river
Come on fella, reckon he's
a good man with a horse
Wants a job
- [Male voice] What name this one?
- Marbuck
- You tell him to put on trousers
- He ain't got no clothes
- Then find him some when
you get to the station
- Jedda, Jedda, come
on, I'll race you home
- It's going well
- Oh Elsa, I hope so,
so much depends on this
- Come inside, this is your night
- Marbuck!
- [Male voice] Take
him easy Joe, he's mad!
- [Male voice] Don't shoot,
don't shoot, can we do fellas
- [Male voice] Don't rush
him, Joe, he'll jump!
- Let her go Marbuck, let her go
Jedda, Jedda, let her go Marbuck!
Jedda, Jedda
She no good for you, it's your own skin
Listen Marbuck, listen
- [Male voice] Look out Joe!
(screaming)
- [Voiceover] Was it
alright to expect that Jedda
one of a race so mystic and so removed
should be of us in one short lifetime?
The tireless whisper of the soul of Jedda
now flies on the lonely plains
and mountain cranes with the wild geese
And that she is happy with
the great mother of the world
in the dreaming time of tomorrow
- Come on Rosa, stand up, take a bow
Where's Robert, Elsa, where's Bobby?
For god sakes Bob, where have you been?
- Right down here where I always sit
- Thank you, thank you
Here he is,
a young man with the
whole world before him
(speaking native language)
- Hey
Hey!
Hey!
Who are you?
You're a friend of Bobby's aren't you?
- I'm his cousin
- Why are the police asking questions?
- You always ask these questions
- That night, was there
a fight or an argument?
Were you there?
- You're Harry aren't you?
- All you want is a story
- What was the fight about?
Look, you could help me
I don't know enough
The man may die
All I need to know is
how and why it happened
(coughing)
- I got it too Peg
- It's my fault, come
out of hospital too soon
You got it from me
- Get it anyway
Living in this dump
Half the people on the reserve got it
As long as you two are alright
- You don't deserve this Bobby
- It's my money Mr. Everett
- Which is supposed to
be a weekly allowance
Not given out in great dollops
whenever you feel like it
- Gotta pay people
I gotta keep up paying for my bike
- 1,800 quid
Is that true?
Are you going down south?
It's a bloody fortune,
even for a white man Bobby
- I did alright
- You can buy me a fair few
cowboy suits with 1,800 quid
You're a soft-touch that's your trouble
I'll never understand you
- I'm gonna cry
- What?
- The allowance from your generous friends
down south is monthly
Any extra and you need an application form
But if you're going to share
it around the way some do
- My wife's pregnant, she's
still sick in the chest
I gotta get some medicine
and stuff for her
- Just so long as you do
- You don't look that good yourself
- I'm alright
- [Female voice] It's a beautiful baby
- [Female voice] Oh, thank you very much
- Your relatives didn't earn that money
they haven't any right to it
- We do it different, anyway,
that's my problem ain't it?
- No, this is your problem,
a sick wife and a new baby
- Bobby's a good boy Mr. Chauv
- I think he wants to be Peggy
You really spent every penny
that we put aside for you?
- I could not hold it in just my pocket
There was too much
Mr. Chauv
Thanks for coming
- Well, with headlines like these
racked with TB, living in slums
I got here as soon as I could manage
We've only been back a week
- I heard they liked the film overseas
- Oh yes, yes, it got
some favorable comment
- You gonna be making any
more pictures down south?
- I don't know Robert
I think Australian audiences
are more interested
in Americans than they
are in their own country
- I'd like to act again
- You should Robert, you
have an extraordinary gift
- Chips Rafferty is trying
to get some money together
to make a film
He wanted me to act in it, but I said no
- Why on Earth not?
- Mr. Chauv, you know I...
- She's very pretty Peggy,
what are you going to call her?
- Christine Joyce Jedda
- How nice
Thank you
(speaking native language)
- You gonna miss me?
I'm gonna miss you
Won't be long
Your daddy's gonna be in another film
Dust in the Sun
I'm going to be another
bad black fella, Emu Foot
You think your daddy's a
bad black fella leaving you?
Someday I'm going to take you with me
To Sydney
Maybe we'll live down there forever
Funny
- What?
- I was thinking about
that time when I was a kid
when I paddled that canoe
from Melville Island 50 miles
50 miles of open water
I was excited
Real adventure
But I was scared too
- What of sharks?
- Sharks?
Nah, that's my dream
That's why Mr. Chauv
used the name Tudawali
That's Tiwi for shark
No, I was scared of where I was headed
- I know what you mean
I don't know
Sometimes I hate this bloody country
This...
Smug
self-satisfied country
- You don't mean that, do you Harry?
This is the best little spot on earth mate
- Yeah, but I don't feel at home here
Wish I did
Your people, you've got something
Something we've lost
If we ever had it
You feel at home here, you're comfortable
You got a...
A spirituality that's closer to the land
A center inside you
A stillness
I envy your people
I envy you
- That's a heap of shit Harry
(laughing)
- Where's Bobby?
- What do you want Mr. Harper?
- Got any money on you Peggy?
- No
- That's a pity Peggy
Because Bobby still owns me 85 quid
- It's not my bike, you talk to him
- That bike's been back
in my shop four times
and he hasn't paid me a penny
You just tell him that
- I'll tell him
- Unless you and I can
come to an arrangement
- I'll tell him when he gets back
He's too busy being a film star
- Film star my ass
Once a bum always a bum
- Hey Jimmy!
Jimmy boy, how are you?
Look what I got for Christine
- Hey Marbuck, how are you?
Merry Christmas
- Merry Christmas, hey, I got
a little present for us too
Five minute tea break
You know Christmas drink eh?
- Hey you down there, be quiet
Hey, put a sock in it douche
Use what you got, shut up
- Another deep breath then say anything
Well that's nice, bringing
a kid into a place like this
- I asked him to
- Who's the genius who had him arrested?
- Bobby was supplying liquor
to a ward of the state
- Come off it Jack, six months
Having a Christmas drink with his cousin
- He does not have citizenship
- Have you any idea what
goes on in the real world
outside your office?
Look, half the country's
in an uproar about it
This is the way we are
seen to celebrate Christmas
in this outpost of civilization
Look, it is less than
a year since Namagiri
got six months for
exactly the same offense
Don't we ever learn?
I want him out of here
- And Charlie you know he's
not under your jurisdiction?
- The health of these
people is my jurisdiction
This man has TB, he should be in hospital
- It doesn't matter
- Oh, doesn't it?
You get yourself locked up
Peggy goes off, Christ, any knows where
And your kid comes to me
to put food into her mouth
and it doesn't matter
- I want him out of here today
- Where have you been?
- Away
- For six weeks?
- Anyway, I didn't wanna
take Christine in there
- No, you let Everett bring her
- Why you always running
off to Delissaville?
Who you got there?
- It's my home isn't it?
And why shouldn't I?
You run around and do what you like
You're supposed to look after us
- I'm afraid I agree with Peggy
I don't think it's a good idea
- Best idea anyone's had since Jedda
- Bob you've been away
months neglecting Christine
and Peggy with another baby on the way
I'm not sure your own
health isn't up to it anyway
And all for some tin pot television series
- Tin pot?
Up here, that's what's tin pot
- You gotta have haven't you?
All the fuss, all the fame,
it's not worth a brass razoo Bob
These Whiplash people will use you up
And when it's all over
you got to come back here
try to settle down again,
be just as restless as you have been
since that damn Jedda
- You welfare people,
you're so bloody sure
of what's good for me
Sitting on my ass doing nothing
- You could get a proper job
- There are no proper jobs for us
Sweeping streets, digging roads,
shoveling shit, black fella's job
My proper job is down there, I'm an actor
- What if you got sick?
- So Sydney hasn't got any hospitals?
- We know your case here
- We know your case, when
I go to hospital up here
Do you know when I get?
Whites get four pound a week TB allowance,
mixed bloods the same, and what do I get?
I'm full bloody black
fella, so I could have TB
from asshole to breakfast time
and I get nothing, bloody nothing!
- Let him go
- Mr. Chauv...
He taught me a lot
- Mr. Chauvel was very fond of you Robert
I had such a lovely letter from Rose
And a photograph
Doesn't she look lovely?
- She's a nun
- I noticed
She looks so dignified
Don't you think?
And you're making a television series
It's all starting to happen now
Too late for us
Goodbye Robert
- Whiplash
Robert it's crap
Shouldn't be wasting your time
and talent on stuff like that
- No other acting jobs around
I thought once I was in Sydney, well..
Yeah, but when this finishes
- I should talk
I get myself into television journalism
Exciting new medium, blah, blah, blah
And what am I doing?
Prize-winning marrows at
the Sydney Agricultural Show
While some yank who's
got a 20-foot shack...
- What do you really wanna do?
- Something worthwhile
Tell the truth, right some wrongs
Tell people what it's
really like, I don't know
What about you?
- Just make it good, better, for the kid
My dream the shark,
believes when the
strongest dreaming of all
The shark is feared by everyone in the sea
He's a loner
There's only one other
dreaming that's, well...
not as strong
But not scared of
That's the sea dog
Porpoise
Well they like each other
And they're very careful of each other too
But there's one way the
shark can get the porpoise
If he takes him out away from
his friends into deeper water
Do you wanna swim?
(laughing)
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ In 1851 ♪
♪ The great Australian gold rush ♪
♪ The only law a gun ♪
♪ The only shelter wild bush ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
- How was whiplash?
- It was alright
- Did you save any money?
- I knew you were going to ask me that
- You're looking pretty well
A present for Christine?
- Where is she, where's Peggy?
- Any other luggage?
(speaking native language)
(laughing)
- Hold on, Peggy's
giving you the runaround
And you go round like a madman
You know where you'll end up?
Maybe the best thing is to send you back
to Melville Island for a while to cool off
- I haven't been on
Melville since I was a kid
I wouldn't know how to talk to them even
- It's a settlement for
God sake, it's not a jail
- Might as well be
- Well, you're being warned
(screaming)
- I might have been
inclined to make allowances,
but for the testimony of your wife
She's pleaded with this court
to be protected from
your disgraceful behavior
You shown yourself to be quite incapable
of managing your own affairs
You have anything to say before
I proceed with sentencing?
Placed in the care of the superintendent
of the Snake Bay settlement
of Melville Island
for a period of 11 months
- Go on
(speaking native language)
- I wouldn't mind a year on Melville
and you look fighting fit
- No booze
- The question is Bob,
can you stay in shape?
- I'll be all right now
I got an offer to go touring
with one of those tent shows
Boxing
- Boxing?
Is that gonna be good for your health?
- I can take care of my health
- If you say so
I wanted to give you some advice
But, only if it's welcome
In my medical experience
Well, in my life experience,
the world seems to be divided
into two kinds of people
those who can hold their
liquor and those who can't
And that goes for all
races and all classes
But, your people, Robert
Suggest to me that really heavy, crazy,
self-destructive drinking
is a sign of deep
frustration and hopelessness
And when the Welfare Act is
amended and all your people
got drinking rights it can only get worse
Please
Hear me out
There are other people around now
Your people trying to make things better
If you go down and link up with them
- I don't know
Some black fellas
Well, they think this film star stuff
I'm a bit of a clown
- You're an actor, aren't you?
You have the ability to
convince them otherwise
Might even convince yourself
- What's it called, this outfit of yours?
- Don't know?
Council for Aboriginal Rights
- You know what Danny?
I spent years keeping out of the hands
of councils and committees
I got enough red tape
to last me a lifetime
- You can speak, you can talk to whites,
you can talk to blacks,
front up to the camera
- It's been awhile since
I fronted up to a camera
Anyway, if this got
anything to do with politics
Well, I don't want--
- It's got nothing to do with politics
In capital issue, in
trouble with authority
- Know about that one for sure
Had my fair share of them
- Sorry
- [Male voice] Good one Johnny
(laughing)
- I don't think you're very
welcome here Mr. Wilson
- I got a right to be here,
we all got a right to be here
- Just because the government's
given you the right
to drink, doesn't mean you
got the right to drink here
I said I didn't think
you were very welcome
- Come a, come a, come a, come
a, 20 quid to try your luck
It's the easiest money you'll ever make
Cast your eyes over these cream puffs
and you'll see what I mean
What about Billy Macker here?
The Tiny Tornado from Townville
He's our greatest heavyweight,
Hank "The Yank" O'Grady
A man with no family and
the IQ of a fence post
And if these greats of humanity
don't make your chops
drool with excitement
then let me tempt you with this
Your own brush with stardom,
ladies and gentlemen,
your chance to step into the
ring with a genuine movie star
Let me introduce you,
that mighty warrior of stage and screen,
that Melville Island Marvel, Bobby Wilson
What was the name of that
film that starred in son?
Now don't tell me, it rhymes with cheddar
Cheddar, cheddar, Jedda!
That's right folks, your
chance to step in the ring
and flatten the big cheese
Come on, come on, come
on now, come on now!
Up here, come on now!
Come on
Come back here and face me Bobby
There's a lot of money riding on this
A lot of people paid money to see this!
If you want to lay down,
then bloody get out!
And you do what your bloody told!
- Bob, there's a television
crew arriving tomorrow
They want you to speak for
them, it's important Bob
- This tradition of passive
acceptance may soon be changing
Here at Wave Hill Station
in the Northern Territory,
Aboriginal Stockmen of the
Guerengi tribe are on strike
On strike for equal pay with
their white counterparts
Mr. Conroy, as representative
of your English company,
How do you react to
claims that your managers
are paying white Stockman $50,
yet their black counterparts get only $10?
- Well, that's untrue, completely untrue
They get part cash,
but they also get part credit
at the company store
You must realize that one native
may have 15 relatives and we feed them all
- How do you reckon it's gonna feel
getting in front of the camera again?
- Pretty weird I reckon
- You'll handle it like an old pro
- What you been doing
in Darwin, what work?
- Anything
Nothing
Been working for the
Aboriginal Rights Council
Danny wants me to go down south
Got a letter from Actor's Equity
asking me to go to Sydney, talk
about all this to the unions
- That's great Robert
You're remembered
You could do a lot for your people
Say things no one else...
- How's Sarah these days?
- She's fine
Broke up a couple of years ago
- Me and Peggy too
How's...
Amanda
- She's 14
She'll be breaking a few hearts soon
- 14
Like Christine
Don't know what I'm gonna do
Gotta do something
- She's pretty
An equity card?
- Only in 53
A bit out of date
I reckon I'm still an actor
Harry
- How are you Robert?
It's a hell of a place for Marbuck to be
- I need water
- Enough?
Anything else I can get you?
- Christine
- Christine?
Where is she?
- Bethast Island
Tiwi people look after her
Got to
get her to school
Convent school in Sydney
- Robert, how the hell
did all this happen?
- Made the news did I?
- Always do don't you?
- With a photo?
- No, no photo
It's all Vietnam these days
Wattie Creek story's looking good
My producer says I'm
coming on a bit strong
But, you're God's gift
to the camera as usual
- Harry
Did you come to do a story on me?
- No mate
Just to see you
- Thought there must be a story in it
You must be a big guy now
No more yanks and 20-foot shacks eh?
- Don't talk now, just rest
- Yank
rang me once
Mr. Chauvel was still alive
Wanted me to do a film
I told him
I only worked for Mr. Chauv
- You should have taken him up
What was it?
A freakin' witch doctor
(laughing)
- Robert, oh, hell
Sister!
Sister!
- You must go now
He won't wake before dawn
I'm sorry about before
I had no right to blame
you for what happened
- Please, that's not necessary
Can I walk you somewhere?
- No, I'm fine
Goodnight
Mr. Wilkins
Robert did speak
In the ambulance on the way in
He said that it was three against one
That they threw him onto the fire
He was in a lot of pain Mr. Wilkins
He may have been delirious
- Mr. Wilkins, a few black men got drunk
had a fight, one of them
landed in the campfire
I've seen it a dozen times
- No, no, that's...
That's too convenient
Tudawali is becoming a thorn
in the side of authority
Caught up with black activists
coming out in support of
the first big black strike
Somebody wanted him out of the way
It's a classic situation
every time the Aboriginal
people get a leader
the whites remove him
with alcohol or money
- You got it all worked out haven't you?
- Alright, you tell me
how it happened then
- I don't know and I don't know who does
Look, I hold no beef with Bobby Wilson
I always thought he was a cheeky bastard
There's been friction for a long time
from both whites and blacks
A lot of people were jealous
of the kind of opportunities he got
All that film star rubbish
- Getting patted on the
head like a trained seal
Filling his head with white notions
of individualism and self-importance
- Did you hear the one
about the black fella
who found a genie in a bottle?
The genie said you got two wishes master
So the black fella thinks for a moment
Then he says I wanna be a movie star
and rich and famous
So the genie goes poof and
turns him into Clark Gable
Then he has his second wish, he says
I never want to work again
for the rest of my life
Just wanna lie around in the
sun, do whatever I feel like
So the genie turned him
back into a black fella
- Tudawali
Come on shark where are you?
I need...
I wanna do something for you
I wanna tell people
Make them understand
Understand myself
- As though anyone in white
Australia would give a damn
- They would if they knew
- They don't want to know
- Robert
Robert
It's alright mate
Don't worry
I'm gonna look after Christine for you
Take her to Sydney to
that school, remember?
Robert!
- You're gonna take her
- I'll get the doctor
- You're not gonna take her!
- I just wanna help you mate
- Ways to help...
She my flesh
My spirit
What can you give her?
- It's me, Harry
- Come on, fight
You fight me, fight me!
Come on, fight me!
You're not going take her!
What do you want from me?
What do you want!
What do you want for me?
- [Harry] The strikers
are gaining strong support
from other black spokesmen
Among these, is perhaps
Australia's best-known aborigine,
longtime film and television
star Robert Tudawali
- What we want
is what everyone wants
The right to a decent life
Respect
(speaking native language)
They say that
It's not about more money
People say I'm
I'm privileged
cause I was taken up by them film people
That's not a privilege, I earned that
That's all we want
Not charity
We want the right to
make our own way in life
Like everyone else
Mistakes and all
(native speaking music)
- Jeez, Bobby, you got
the gang by the throat
There's your mrs. with lunch
(laughing)
- Excuse me, which one
of you is Bobby Wilson?
- Here, you're wasting
your time with them mister
- I'm Bob Wilson
- You were recommended
to us by Norm Lockwood
Mr. Lockwood of Native Affairs
Well, the situation is,
that we've been searching
high and low for an
aboriginal boy to play a role
- A leading role I may say,
in a very important film
which Mr. Chauvel and I are making
- What do you want me to do?
- I suppose you could say, it's
something like a corroboree
You act out a story and
we take your picture
A moving picture that is
- You mean like Hopalong Cassidy?
(laughing)
- Exactly
- He seen every Hopalong
Cassidy picture about 10 times
- We're going to make something
rather better than that
But first we have to give you a test
- Okay, turn over
- [Crewman] Speed
- Now, Bobby, concentrate
You are Marbuck, a proud savage warrior
Now let me see it, Bobby,
let me see that pride
Right, now walk in a slow circle
Yes
Yes, think how Marbuck the
warrior would carry his body
Strong, upright
You are tribal, you know only the trees
the rocks, and the rivers
You've come in from the
wild to the capital section
And there are many nervous
come out to watch you
You can feel them looking at you
But
You are a killer
You're a fugitive from the law
and there's the light of
the devil in your eyes
(laughing)
Cut
Fabian, show one
Peggy, Peggy, Peggy, come on
You come here and stand beside Bobby
- No, I can't act
- [Elsa] It's not a test
dear, it's just to help
- There, come on, no need to be nervous
There we are, there's a good girl
Now you just kneel down there
There
Now
For the moment, you are Jedda
An innocent, young, pretty girl,
who's been brought up by
the white station owners
In other words, someone who
is caught between two worlds
You're attracted, mightily attracted,
to this handsome stranger
- Okay, turn over, speed
- Now you Bobby, you have a powerful magic
and you weave a kind
of spell over this girl
You sing her to you
(tribal singing)
Cut
- Something like that?
- Australian Aboriginal
history falls into two parts
18,000 years before
and 150 years after
white colonial imperialism
In other words, centuries
of harmony and coexistence
with this harsh, but fragile landscape
From then, if a smug, white
complacency would only admit it,
A brief, agonized era of despair
This tradition of passive
acceptance may soon be changing
Here at Wave Hill Station
in the Northern Territory,
Aboriginal stockmen of the
Guerengi tribe are on strike
On strike for equal pay with
their white counterparts
As though, black stockmen daring to strike
is not enough in itself,
the strikers are gaining strong support
from other black spokesmen
Among these, is perhaps
Australia's best-known aborigine,
longtime film and television
star Robert Tudawali
- Okay, that's enough
Harry, does it have to be imperialism?
White colonial imperialism?
It's biased, it's not objective
- Since when have we been objective?
- This is not journalism,
this is something personal
Griping
- I would have thought there was plenty
to gripe about about these days
- Did you hear?
He's had an accident
You might have to update
this with a bit of voice over
If it really gets bad, you
can always whiz up there
and get some extra footage
- I just whizzed down from
there, I'm not going Richard
- Harry, now for God
sake, you know the guy,
you just interviewed
him, who else can I send?
- No thanks
- Harry
Okay, what's bugging you?
- The man's a mess, and what he could--
- Newsroom: Tudawali, he's worse
- And?
- Could go either way
- I say that's a long way to come
just to visit someone in hospital
- Well it's partly professional,
he also happens to be a friend
Oh, you got some mates up here have you?
Best little spot on earth, Darwin
You can have Sydney, I've been there once
Up here in the territory,
people are real friendly
you know what I mean?
Who's your mate, I might know him?
- It's possible you do
Tudawali, Robert Tudawali
- Bloody Bobby Wilson
Yeah, I know him alright
He's the bastard that's
been stirring up trouble
with them abo stockmen
- He didn't start any trouble
he just came in as a sort of spokesman
- But there's no real
difference between the way
we treat the white
stockman and the Aborigine
- You forget that we do
have considerable experience
with the native labor
- They get the same wages,
the same conditions, the same
- Same?
Mr. Conroy, as representative
of your English company,
How do you react to
claims that your managers
are paying white Stockman $50,
yet their black counterparts get only $10?
- Well, that's untrue, completely untrue
They get part cash,
but they also get part
credit at the company store
You must realize that one native
may have 15 relatives and we feed them all
- I hope you realize Bobby
Wilson is a very sick man
He's hardly surfaced yet
- How bad is he?
- This may disappoint you,
but he has a fighting chance
Well, bad news is good news
for journalists isn't it?
- Well, this may disappoint you, sister,
but we've been friends for a long time
- Well if he comes around
while you're with him
call for me immediately
Don't start asking him questions
Don't upset or disturb him
Who gave you permission to
go into this patient's room?
- Visitors might get
him over-excited sister
I don't think he should
be talking to anybody
until he's talked to us
- Well, what do you want with him?
It was an accident wasn't it?
How did it happen?
- We're not sure
It was night before the show
The Darwin Agricultural Show
There was a lot of celebrating
and drinking at the Bagot Reserve
There was sort of fight,
some sort of argument
- Fight?
What about?
Why would he?
Surely he didn't just
lie there in the fire
- The alcohol level in
his blood was very high
- Didn't anyone try to help him?
- He was almost gone before we were called
Of course, it may have been a stroke
He has a long history of TB too
I don't think there's
much point Mr. Wilkins,
but if you want to stay a while
- Yeah, thanks
- Ladies and gentlemen of the press,
to play the part of the arch villain,
in the role of Marbuck,
Mr. Robert Tudawali
(people applauding)
Robert is a member of the Tiwi tribe
He was born on Melville Island,
we think some 25 years ago
At the age of 10,
his father moved the family
from Melville to Darwin
This little native boy paddled
the 50 miles of open water
between the island and the
mainland alone in his own canoe
Now as you can see in his early years,
he was a crocodile and a buffalo hunter
But then he took up an
even more dangerous sport,
Aussie rules football
(laughing)
Now Robert is an actor
Both Robert and Rose
took to their new
profession with amazing ease
And we spent eight months
filming in some quite
spectacular locations
And we're going to spend
the next three months
here in Sydney in the studio
Now, if there are any
questions, I'd be delighted
Well, we'd all be delighted to answer them
- Miss Kunoth and Mr. Tudawali,
What's it like being Australia's
first aboriginal film stars?
- I like acting in films
- What did you do before Mr.
Chauvel put you in his film?
- I worked for Mr. Wilson
down at the Ref Base
Did a bit of laboring,
whatever job I could get
- I hope Mr. Chauvel's
paying better money for this
(laughing)
- So do I, otherwise I'll have
to get this flash suit back
- 70% of Robert's salary
is paid into a trust fund
for Bob and his family
The rest is finger money
to do with as he chooses
- Out of all the big city
has to offer, Mr. Tudawali,
would you know what to
spend your money on?
- My wife asked me to bring her back
some nice dresses and a record player
- Mr. Tudawali, your wife Peggy,
why didn't she accompany you?
- She hasn't been too well lately
- Tell me, Mr. Tudawali,
what does roscoeana taste like?
- You tell me Miss, what
does roast lamb taste like?
(laughing)
- You did very well in there,
you're really professional
- Thanks
- I'm sorry about your wife being sick,
I didn't mean to put you on the spot
- That's okay
- It's nothing serious I hope
- TB
- Oh, hell, I'm sorry
- She in hospital?
- Mmm
- How long?
- Doctor reckoned she'd
be in for about a month
- First time in Sydney?
- Yeah
Big place
Terrific
- Well, if ever you need a coach tour,
I mean a look around,
I'd be only too happy
to show you the sights.
This is my newspaper number
and this is my home number
- Hey, you better tell me who you are
- Harry Wilkins
- Is your wife from Melville Island too?
- No, she's Wogait, from Delissaville
About 50 miles from Darwin
They got a big mission school there
- Did you go to school Robert?
- Not for long though
Peggy, she can read and
write better than me
She's always reading books
- But you speak English very well
Want some more corned beef?
- No, thank you
- Why'd you leave school?
- My sister died at school
- Oh, I'm sorry
What did she die of?
- Don't know for sure
A lot of kids got sick at school
My father reckoned school killed her
(laughing)
- I know what he meant--
- Harry!
- Do you and your wife have any children?
- Not yet
But when...
When I do I want the best
Well, I mean, the best I can do for them
- Come on
Come on
You're all wet
(laughing)
- Cut
Cut, cut
- Sorry, you're not a
common sight in a Sydney pub
- Not a common sight
in a Darwin pub either
Not too many of us got the
right to drink up there
- Why?
- Welfare Act
All black fellas were registered
made wards of the government
Not allowed to drink, vote,
and we got to be in at a
certain hour each night
- Jeez
- To protect us from ourselves
Me, I'm privileged
My name's not on the stud book
- My bloody cues bent
Thought I was supposed to be teaching you?
- What are you looking at Snow White?
Come on mate, you're not
playing for a ship station
- We've got another
game yet, goes to three
- Not in this pub mate,
against the house rules
Now...
Take your money and move out sport
- It's my money, put it back
- No one's talking to you Snow White
- Look you heard what he said, put it back
- Hey mate, you are that
filmmaker bloke, aren't you?
Tiddly Widdly
- Tudawali
- Yes, that's what I said
Can I buy you a drink,
never bought a drink
for a filmmaker before
You are going to give him his money back
Give him his money
- You have to try and get more than one
feeling into the scene, Robert
You fight against the
death chant of your elders
You think you can fight it
You think you are stronger than they
But the madness is eating
into your mind
Your will...
We have to see this,
this, this desperation
This madness
- That's pretty good Mrs. Chauv
- Thank you Robert, I
was an actress you know
That's how I met Mr.
Chauvel, in silent films
- Well, ready?
Now remember Robert, get in a deep breath
It's all in the breathing
If an actor has control of his breathing,
he can control anything
he has to do or say
Got it?
- Back on set, please!
- Got it
- Good boy
- And mad, a little bit mad
- Alright, Graham, we'll try one
- Okay everybody, standing by
Turn over
Set slide 784, take one
- Action!
- Our men
Belong tribe
They point a bone at me
They see me dead
I die soon
Mondinka say you're wrong skin for me
If you die
Mondinka happy
Maybe not seeing me die
If you die
That's good
- No, you mad fella!
You mad fella!
- Cut!
- My dearest ladies and gentlemen...
That is approved
- And a wrap
Well done Mr. Chauvel
- [Male voice] Yeah,
Brian, thanks a lot mate
- [Male voice] Good working
with you, this was great
- Didn't know what to get you
- Thanks
It's very nice
A bit flash for me, but...
Thanks
- Excuse me mister, can I take your photo?
Thank you
- [Male voice] Australian
National Airlines
advises the arrival of Flight 36
- Bob, nice to have you back
- Good of you to come and meet me
- Where's Peggy?
- She's at the gate
- Hey Bobby, Bob
Give the local paper a break mate
How was it in The Big Smoke?
Is it gonna be a good piggy?
- [Photographer] What about
you and that little girl?
Hey Bob, let's get the little girl
- Bob, you got a minute?
Give a bloke a break will you?
Just for the local paper please, huh?
Just for a cheap, thanks
We'll just get a shot and a...
- [Photographer] Well, let's
see if it looks good now
Show it how you smiled in The Big Smoke
- [Reporter] Very good, thanks
(people cheering)
(speaking native language)
- Their money
- [Male voice] Come on
you guys, give him a push
- [Male voice] Come on and join me
Come on
- Thought you said you'd look after it!
(coughing)
You come out of hospital too soon?
- I didn't like it
Anyway, you were coming home
- I missed you too
(coughing)
- It was great in Sydney, but...
- Who did you have down there?
You must have had someone,
you like it too much to go without
- Peggy
Come on
I only love you
- Why was it so great then?
Got a lot to fascinate have you?
Did it turn your head did it?
- A bit
People can live good down there
For the first time I got any idea
- You wanna go back?
- If I get another part in a picture
I'll be there like a shot
- Would I come?
- You gotta get better first
Better for me
Have a few kids
Get a nice little house on the beach
Look at this place
No running water, nowhere decent to cook
In Sydney...
You gotta help me Peg
- I can't even help myself
I thought you might go off with her
That Jedda type Rose Kunoth
- Little Rosie, she's only a kid, Peg
She got nothing to do with us,
she's going back to her own people now
- But you did have her didn't you?
You've been with her
- I didn't!
It was acting, acting for the picture
- Oh, I'm sick of that picture
I never want to see,
everything's gone wrong
since that lousy picture
- Peggy, that picture was
the first decent thing
that ever happened in our lives
(coughing)
- Good evening ladies and gentleman
and welcome on this
most auspicious occasion
First film premiere ever
to be held in Darwin
And coming now, I see the film's producer,
the emulant Mr. Charles Chauvel
Good evening sir
- I'd like to take this opportunity
of thanking the people
of the Northern Territory
who gave us so much help
in the making of Jedda
I hope you like the picture
- I'm sure we shall, that
was Mr. Charles Chauvel,
Australia's most eminent
film producer / director
Tonight we are here to preview Jedda,
Australia's very first ever--
- Elsa, where's Bobby?
- Hello, Jacko
- You fellas just got back in time
The boss killed a fat bullet this morning
Plenty of good tackle for everyone tonight
- Hello Billy, how's your big conilly?
(laughing)
- This new fellow, he come
from Walla Walla tribe
Been working on Buffalo
station on green skin river
Come on fella, reckon he's
a good man with a horse
Wants a job
- [Male voice] What name this one?
- Marbuck
- You tell him to put on trousers
- He ain't got no clothes
- Then find him some when
you get to the station
- Jedda, Jedda, come
on, I'll race you home
- It's going well
- Oh Elsa, I hope so,
so much depends on this
- Come inside, this is your night
- Marbuck!
- [Male voice] Take
him easy Joe, he's mad!
- [Male voice] Don't shoot,
don't shoot, can we do fellas
- [Male voice] Don't rush
him, Joe, he'll jump!
- Let her go Marbuck, let her go
Jedda, Jedda, let her go Marbuck!
Jedda, Jedda
She no good for you, it's your own skin
Listen Marbuck, listen
- [Male voice] Look out Joe!
(screaming)
- [Voiceover] Was it
alright to expect that Jedda
one of a race so mystic and so removed
should be of us in one short lifetime?
The tireless whisper of the soul of Jedda
now flies on the lonely plains
and mountain cranes with the wild geese
And that she is happy with
the great mother of the world
in the dreaming time of tomorrow
- Come on Rosa, stand up, take a bow
Where's Robert, Elsa, where's Bobby?
For god sakes Bob, where have you been?
- Right down here where I always sit
- Thank you, thank you
Here he is,
a young man with the
whole world before him
(speaking native language)
- Hey
Hey!
Hey!
Who are you?
You're a friend of Bobby's aren't you?
- I'm his cousin
- Why are the police asking questions?
- You always ask these questions
- That night, was there
a fight or an argument?
Were you there?
- You're Harry aren't you?
- All you want is a story
- What was the fight about?
Look, you could help me
I don't know enough
The man may die
All I need to know is
how and why it happened
(coughing)
- I got it too Peg
- It's my fault, come
out of hospital too soon
You got it from me
- Get it anyway
Living in this dump
Half the people on the reserve got it
As long as you two are alright
- You don't deserve this Bobby
- It's my money Mr. Everett
- Which is supposed to
be a weekly allowance
Not given out in great dollops
whenever you feel like it
- Gotta pay people
I gotta keep up paying for my bike
- 1,800 quid
Is that true?
Are you going down south?
It's a bloody fortune,
even for a white man Bobby
- I did alright
- You can buy me a fair few
cowboy suits with 1,800 quid
You're a soft-touch that's your trouble
I'll never understand you
- I'm gonna cry
- What?
- The allowance from your generous friends
down south is monthly
Any extra and you need an application form
But if you're going to share
it around the way some do
- My wife's pregnant, she's
still sick in the chest
I gotta get some medicine
and stuff for her
- Just so long as you do
- You don't look that good yourself
- I'm alright
- [Female voice] It's a beautiful baby
- [Female voice] Oh, thank you very much
- Your relatives didn't earn that money
they haven't any right to it
- We do it different, anyway,
that's my problem ain't it?
- No, this is your problem,
a sick wife and a new baby
- Bobby's a good boy Mr. Chauv
- I think he wants to be Peggy
You really spent every penny
that we put aside for you?
- I could not hold it in just my pocket
There was too much
Mr. Chauv
Thanks for coming
- Well, with headlines like these
racked with TB, living in slums
I got here as soon as I could manage
We've only been back a week
- I heard they liked the film overseas
- Oh yes, yes, it got
some favorable comment
- You gonna be making any
more pictures down south?
- I don't know Robert
I think Australian audiences
are more interested
in Americans than they
are in their own country
- I'd like to act again
- You should Robert, you
have an extraordinary gift
- Chips Rafferty is trying
to get some money together
to make a film
He wanted me to act in it, but I said no
- Why on Earth not?
- Mr. Chauv, you know I...
- She's very pretty Peggy,
what are you going to call her?
- Christine Joyce Jedda
- How nice
Thank you
(speaking native language)
- You gonna miss me?
I'm gonna miss you
Won't be long
Your daddy's gonna be in another film
Dust in the Sun
I'm going to be another
bad black fella, Emu Foot
You think your daddy's a
bad black fella leaving you?
Someday I'm going to take you with me
To Sydney
Maybe we'll live down there forever
Funny
- What?
- I was thinking about
that time when I was a kid
when I paddled that canoe
from Melville Island 50 miles
50 miles of open water
I was excited
Real adventure
But I was scared too
- What of sharks?
- Sharks?
Nah, that's my dream
That's why Mr. Chauv
used the name Tudawali
That's Tiwi for shark
No, I was scared of where I was headed
- I know what you mean
I don't know
Sometimes I hate this bloody country
This...
Smug
self-satisfied country
- You don't mean that, do you Harry?
This is the best little spot on earth mate
- Yeah, but I don't feel at home here
Wish I did
Your people, you've got something
Something we've lost
If we ever had it
You feel at home here, you're comfortable
You got a...
A spirituality that's closer to the land
A center inside you
A stillness
I envy your people
I envy you
- That's a heap of shit Harry
(laughing)
- Where's Bobby?
- What do you want Mr. Harper?
- Got any money on you Peggy?
- No
- That's a pity Peggy
Because Bobby still owns me 85 quid
- It's not my bike, you talk to him
- That bike's been back
in my shop four times
and he hasn't paid me a penny
You just tell him that
- I'll tell him
- Unless you and I can
come to an arrangement
- I'll tell him when he gets back
He's too busy being a film star
- Film star my ass
Once a bum always a bum
- Hey Jimmy!
Jimmy boy, how are you?
Look what I got for Christine
- Hey Marbuck, how are you?
Merry Christmas
- Merry Christmas, hey, I got
a little present for us too
Five minute tea break
You know Christmas drink eh?
- Hey you down there, be quiet
Hey, put a sock in it douche
Use what you got, shut up
- Another deep breath then say anything
Well that's nice, bringing
a kid into a place like this
- I asked him to
- Who's the genius who had him arrested?
- Bobby was supplying liquor
to a ward of the state
- Come off it Jack, six months
Having a Christmas drink with his cousin
- He does not have citizenship
- Have you any idea what
goes on in the real world
outside your office?
Look, half the country's
in an uproar about it
This is the way we are
seen to celebrate Christmas
in this outpost of civilization
Look, it is less than
a year since Namagiri
got six months for
exactly the same offense
Don't we ever learn?
I want him out of here
- And Charlie you know he's
not under your jurisdiction?
- The health of these
people is my jurisdiction
This man has TB, he should be in hospital
- It doesn't matter
- Oh, doesn't it?
You get yourself locked up
Peggy goes off, Christ, any knows where
And your kid comes to me
to put food into her mouth
and it doesn't matter
- I want him out of here today
- Where have you been?
- Away
- For six weeks?
- Anyway, I didn't wanna
take Christine in there
- No, you let Everett bring her
- Why you always running
off to Delissaville?
Who you got there?
- It's my home isn't it?
And why shouldn't I?
You run around and do what you like
You're supposed to look after us
- I'm afraid I agree with Peggy
I don't think it's a good idea
- Best idea anyone's had since Jedda
- Bob you've been away
months neglecting Christine
and Peggy with another baby on the way
I'm not sure your own
health isn't up to it anyway
And all for some tin pot television series
- Tin pot?
Up here, that's what's tin pot
- You gotta have haven't you?
All the fuss, all the fame,
it's not worth a brass razoo Bob
These Whiplash people will use you up
And when it's all over
you got to come back here
try to settle down again,
be just as restless as you have been
since that damn Jedda
- You welfare people,
you're so bloody sure
of what's good for me
Sitting on my ass doing nothing
- You could get a proper job
- There are no proper jobs for us
Sweeping streets, digging roads,
shoveling shit, black fella's job
My proper job is down there, I'm an actor
- What if you got sick?
- So Sydney hasn't got any hospitals?
- We know your case here
- We know your case, when
I go to hospital up here
Do you know when I get?
Whites get four pound a week TB allowance,
mixed bloods the same, and what do I get?
I'm full bloody black
fella, so I could have TB
from asshole to breakfast time
and I get nothing, bloody nothing!
- Let him go
- Mr. Chauv...
He taught me a lot
- Mr. Chauvel was very fond of you Robert
I had such a lovely letter from Rose
And a photograph
Doesn't she look lovely?
- She's a nun
- I noticed
She looks so dignified
Don't you think?
And you're making a television series
It's all starting to happen now
Too late for us
Goodbye Robert
- Whiplash
Robert it's crap
Shouldn't be wasting your time
and talent on stuff like that
- No other acting jobs around
I thought once I was in Sydney, well..
Yeah, but when this finishes
- I should talk
I get myself into television journalism
Exciting new medium, blah, blah, blah
And what am I doing?
Prize-winning marrows at
the Sydney Agricultural Show
While some yank who's
got a 20-foot shack...
- What do you really wanna do?
- Something worthwhile
Tell the truth, right some wrongs
Tell people what it's
really like, I don't know
What about you?
- Just make it good, better, for the kid
My dream the shark,
believes when the
strongest dreaming of all
The shark is feared by everyone in the sea
He's a loner
There's only one other
dreaming that's, well...
not as strong
But not scared of
That's the sea dog
Porpoise
Well they like each other
And they're very careful of each other too
But there's one way the
shark can get the porpoise
If he takes him out away from
his friends into deeper water
Do you wanna swim?
(laughing)
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ In 1851 ♪
♪ The great Australian gold rush ♪
♪ The only law a gun ♪
♪ The only shelter wild bush ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
♪ Whiplash ♪
- How was whiplash?
- It was alright
- Did you save any money?
- I knew you were going to ask me that
- You're looking pretty well
A present for Christine?
- Where is she, where's Peggy?
- Any other luggage?
(speaking native language)
(laughing)
- Hold on, Peggy's
giving you the runaround
And you go round like a madman
You know where you'll end up?
Maybe the best thing is to send you back
to Melville Island for a while to cool off
- I haven't been on
Melville since I was a kid
I wouldn't know how to talk to them even
- It's a settlement for
God sake, it's not a jail
- Might as well be
- Well, you're being warned
(screaming)
- I might have been
inclined to make allowances,
but for the testimony of your wife
She's pleaded with this court
to be protected from
your disgraceful behavior
You shown yourself to be quite incapable
of managing your own affairs
You have anything to say before
I proceed with sentencing?
Placed in the care of the superintendent
of the Snake Bay settlement
of Melville Island
for a period of 11 months
- Go on
(speaking native language)
- I wouldn't mind a year on Melville
and you look fighting fit
- No booze
- The question is Bob,
can you stay in shape?
- I'll be all right now
I got an offer to go touring
with one of those tent shows
Boxing
- Boxing?
Is that gonna be good for your health?
- I can take care of my health
- If you say so
I wanted to give you some advice
But, only if it's welcome
In my medical experience
Well, in my life experience,
the world seems to be divided
into two kinds of people
those who can hold their
liquor and those who can't
And that goes for all
races and all classes
But, your people, Robert
Suggest to me that really heavy, crazy,
self-destructive drinking
is a sign of deep
frustration and hopelessness
And when the Welfare Act is
amended and all your people
got drinking rights it can only get worse
Please
Hear me out
There are other people around now
Your people trying to make things better
If you go down and link up with them
- I don't know
Some black fellas
Well, they think this film star stuff
I'm a bit of a clown
- You're an actor, aren't you?
You have the ability to
convince them otherwise
Might even convince yourself
- What's it called, this outfit of yours?
- Don't know?
Council for Aboriginal Rights
- You know what Danny?
I spent years keeping out of the hands
of councils and committees
I got enough red tape
to last me a lifetime
- You can speak, you can talk to whites,
you can talk to blacks,
front up to the camera
- It's been awhile since
I fronted up to a camera
Anyway, if this got
anything to do with politics
Well, I don't want--
- It's got nothing to do with politics
In capital issue, in
trouble with authority
- Know about that one for sure
Had my fair share of them
- Sorry
- [Male voice] Good one Johnny
(laughing)
- I don't think you're very
welcome here Mr. Wilson
- I got a right to be here,
we all got a right to be here
- Just because the government's
given you the right
to drink, doesn't mean you
got the right to drink here
I said I didn't think
you were very welcome
- Come a, come a, come a, come
a, 20 quid to try your luck
It's the easiest money you'll ever make
Cast your eyes over these cream puffs
and you'll see what I mean
What about Billy Macker here?
The Tiny Tornado from Townville
He's our greatest heavyweight,
Hank "The Yank" O'Grady
A man with no family and
the IQ of a fence post
And if these greats of humanity
don't make your chops
drool with excitement
then let me tempt you with this
Your own brush with stardom,
ladies and gentlemen,
your chance to step into the
ring with a genuine movie star
Let me introduce you,
that mighty warrior of stage and screen,
that Melville Island Marvel, Bobby Wilson
What was the name of that
film that starred in son?
Now don't tell me, it rhymes with cheddar
Cheddar, cheddar, Jedda!
That's right folks, your
chance to step in the ring
and flatten the big cheese
Come on, come on, come
on now, come on now!
Up here, come on now!
Come on
Come back here and face me Bobby
There's a lot of money riding on this
A lot of people paid money to see this!
If you want to lay down,
then bloody get out!
And you do what your bloody told!
- Bob, there's a television
crew arriving tomorrow
They want you to speak for
them, it's important Bob
- This tradition of passive
acceptance may soon be changing
Here at Wave Hill Station
in the Northern Territory,
Aboriginal Stockmen of the
Guerengi tribe are on strike
On strike for equal pay with
their white counterparts
Mr. Conroy, as representative
of your English company,
How do you react to
claims that your managers
are paying white Stockman $50,
yet their black counterparts get only $10?
- Well, that's untrue, completely untrue
They get part cash,
but they also get part credit
at the company store
You must realize that one native
may have 15 relatives and we feed them all
- How do you reckon it's gonna feel
getting in front of the camera again?
- Pretty weird I reckon
- You'll handle it like an old pro
- What you been doing
in Darwin, what work?
- Anything
Nothing
Been working for the
Aboriginal Rights Council
Danny wants me to go down south
Got a letter from Actor's Equity
asking me to go to Sydney, talk
about all this to the unions
- That's great Robert
You're remembered
You could do a lot for your people
Say things no one else...
- How's Sarah these days?
- She's fine
Broke up a couple of years ago
- Me and Peggy too
How's...
Amanda
- She's 14
She'll be breaking a few hearts soon
- 14
Like Christine
Don't know what I'm gonna do
Gotta do something
- She's pretty
An equity card?
- Only in 53
A bit out of date
I reckon I'm still an actor
Harry
- How are you Robert?
It's a hell of a place for Marbuck to be
- I need water
- Enough?
Anything else I can get you?
- Christine
- Christine?
Where is she?
- Bethast Island
Tiwi people look after her
Got to
get her to school
Convent school in Sydney
- Robert, how the hell
did all this happen?
- Made the news did I?
- Always do don't you?
- With a photo?
- No, no photo
It's all Vietnam these days
Wattie Creek story's looking good
My producer says I'm
coming on a bit strong
But, you're God's gift
to the camera as usual
- Harry
Did you come to do a story on me?
- No mate
Just to see you
- Thought there must be a story in it
You must be a big guy now
No more yanks and 20-foot shacks eh?
- Don't talk now, just rest
- Yank
rang me once
Mr. Chauvel was still alive
Wanted me to do a film
I told him
I only worked for Mr. Chauv
- You should have taken him up
What was it?
A freakin' witch doctor
(laughing)
- Robert, oh, hell
Sister!
Sister!
- You must go now
He won't wake before dawn
I'm sorry about before
I had no right to blame
you for what happened
- Please, that's not necessary
Can I walk you somewhere?
- No, I'm fine
Goodnight
Mr. Wilkins
Robert did speak
In the ambulance on the way in
He said that it was three against one
That they threw him onto the fire
He was in a lot of pain Mr. Wilkins
He may have been delirious
- Mr. Wilkins, a few black men got drunk
had a fight, one of them
landed in the campfire
I've seen it a dozen times
- No, no, that's...
That's too convenient
Tudawali is becoming a thorn
in the side of authority
Caught up with black activists
coming out in support of
the first big black strike
Somebody wanted him out of the way
It's a classic situation
every time the Aboriginal
people get a leader
the whites remove him
with alcohol or money
- You got it all worked out haven't you?
- Alright, you tell me
how it happened then
- I don't know and I don't know who does
Look, I hold no beef with Bobby Wilson
I always thought he was a cheeky bastard
There's been friction for a long time
from both whites and blacks
A lot of people were jealous
of the kind of opportunities he got
All that film star rubbish
- Getting patted on the
head like a trained seal
Filling his head with white notions
of individualism and self-importance
- Did you hear the one
about the black fella
who found a genie in a bottle?
The genie said you got two wishes master
So the black fella thinks for a moment
Then he says I wanna be a movie star
and rich and famous
So the genie goes poof and
turns him into Clark Gable
Then he has his second wish, he says
I never want to work again
for the rest of my life
Just wanna lie around in the
sun, do whatever I feel like
So the genie turned him
back into a black fella
- Tudawali
Come on shark where are you?
I need...
I wanna do something for you
I wanna tell people
Make them understand
Understand myself
- As though anyone in white
Australia would give a damn
- They would if they knew
- They don't want to know
- Robert
Robert
It's alright mate
Don't worry
I'm gonna look after Christine for you
Take her to Sydney to
that school, remember?
Robert!
- You're gonna take her
- I'll get the doctor
- You're not gonna take her!
- I just wanna help you mate
- Ways to help...
She my flesh
My spirit
What can you give her?
- It's me, Harry
- Come on, fight
You fight me, fight me!
Come on, fight me!
You're not going take her!
What do you want from me?
What do you want!
What do you want for me?
- [Harry] The strikers
are gaining strong support
from other black spokesmen
Among these, is perhaps
Australia's best-known aborigine,
longtime film and television
star Robert Tudawali
- What we want
is what everyone wants
The right to a decent life
Respect
(speaking native language)
They say that
It's not about more money
People say I'm
I'm privileged
cause I was taken up by them film people
That's not a privilege, I earned that
That's all we want
Not charity
We want the right to
make our own way in life
Like everyone else
Mistakes and all
(native speaking music)