In a coastal town, football bridges two groups amid underlying tensions. A book-loving white teen and his gifted Aboriginal friend face challenges as their team aims for glory.In a coastal town, football bridges two groups amid underlying tensions. A book-loving white teen and his gifted Aboriginal friend face challenges as their team aims for glory.In a coastal town, football bridges two groups amid underlying tensions. A book-loving white teen and his gifted Aboriginal friend face challenges as their team aims for glory.
- Awards
- 7 wins & 17 nominations
Photos
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaScreen adaptation from a novel is not only about leaving things out but also about strengthening links. By creating a stronger relationship between the Blacky and Dumby's red sister Clarence characters, the film brought the crux of the source novel's ideas about racism and Blacky's growing awareness of bigotry and hypocrisy, into a sharper focus.
- GoofsAll entries contain spoilers
- Quotes
Gary 'Blacky' Black: Old man's Fruit and Nut?
Liz Black: Old man's Fruit and f***ing nut
- ConnectionsFeatured in Behind the Scenes of Australian Rules (2003)
Featured review
Strong debut feature marred by lack of consultation
Paul Goldman's debut feature film 'australian rules' is a thought-provoking film about racism and relationships. It is an accomplished work, with beautiful but never flashy cinematography by DOP Mandy Walker (Lantana, Love Serenade) and strong performances by its cast, including Nathan Phillips as the young protagonist Blacky, Luke Carroll as his Aboriginal best mate Dumby Red, and Celia Ireland as Blacky's mother.
Sadly, the film-makers' lack of consultation with the indigenous community of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia has resulted in significant - and to my mind well-founded - criticism of the film. Based on the young adult novel 'Deadly, Unna' by Phillip Gwynne, the film is based on actual events - the deaths of two young Aboriginal youths in 1977, shot and killed by the publican of a hotel they were attempting to rob. No mention of this is made in the credits of 'australian rules'.
The film contains characters and scenes recognisable and identifiable to the families of the dead youths. Consultation with these families should have taken place from the moment the book was mooted as a film, not - as happened - when the film was already in production. This lack of consultation/awareness of Aboriginal culture and its sensitivities concerning death, mars what is otherwise a good film, leaving the film-makers open to allegations of racism.
Is 'australian rules' a racist film? I don't think so. Racist characters and phrases in the film go unchallenged, yes, but hopefully audiences are intelligent enough to see the truth for themselves, without needing clumsy and obvious cinematic signposting from characters or the film-makers saying 'this is bad'.
Overall, I recommend 'australian rules' to viewers, but I wish that the film-makers had shown more respect towards our indigenous culture rather than riding roughshod over the grief of the families involved.
Sadly, the film-makers' lack of consultation with the indigenous community of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia has resulted in significant - and to my mind well-founded - criticism of the film. Based on the young adult novel 'Deadly, Unna' by Phillip Gwynne, the film is based on actual events - the deaths of two young Aboriginal youths in 1977, shot and killed by the publican of a hotel they were attempting to rob. No mention of this is made in the credits of 'australian rules'.
The film contains characters and scenes recognisable and identifiable to the families of the dead youths. Consultation with these families should have taken place from the moment the book was mooted as a film, not - as happened - when the film was already in production. This lack of consultation/awareness of Aboriginal culture and its sensitivities concerning death, mars what is otherwise a good film, leaving the film-makers open to allegations of racism.
Is 'australian rules' a racist film? I don't think so. Racist characters and phrases in the film go unchallenged, yes, but hopefully audiences are intelligent enough to see the truth for themselves, without needing clumsy and obvious cinematic signposting from characters or the film-makers saying 'this is bad'.
Overall, I recommend 'australian rules' to viewers, but I wish that the film-makers had shown more respect towards our indigenous culture rather than riding roughshod over the grief of the families involved.
- richard_watts
- Aug 10, 2002
- Permalink
- How long is Australian Rules?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- По австралийским правилам
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $243,748
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content