Rabbit Proof Fence
Rabbit Proof Fence- directed by Phillip Noyce
- "Set in the period when 'Stolen Generations' of mainly mixed race aboriginal children were routinely taken from their mothers with a view to rooting out racial impurity, this is a compelling story of three little girls' successful escape from their 'school' in Perth..."
- Amazon.co.uk entry »
Review posted on 22 February 2006 by Alice Curteis, World-wise reviewer
Set in the period when 'Stolen Generations' of mainly mixed race aboriginal children were routinely taken from their mothers with a view to rooting out racial impurity, this is a compelling story of three little girls' successful escape from their 'school' in Perth and their return home 1500 miles through the outback along the rabbit proof fence which they know will lead them to where they want to go.
The film is loosely based on the book of the same title, written thanks to a living history project which enabled the author Doris Pilkington to tell her own story. The film is more of a feelgood account than the book, which recounts the heartbreak of children taken away and never seen again.
However the flavour of Doris's adventures is captured in the film and it's a gripping story with endless hairsbreadth escapes from pursuers such as the aboriginal tracker sent out to capture them.
The portrayal of the self-righteous, zealously Christian, state 'protector of Aborigines' (Kenneth Branagh) makes for uncomfortable viewing. It feels like a tale from another era but this type of ethnic cleansing went on right up to the 1960s.