Ten Canoes

This was a solo Friday night effort while Ian went to games. It was sold out, which was in part due to the Australian High Commission buying 90 seats - part of their patriotic duty, I guess.

This is a gentle tale, depicting aboriginal life as its been for thousands of years, filmed in Arnhem land. There are two strands to the story -in the current day a group of men go on the annual goose egg hunt. One of the men is lusting after one of his brother's wives so one of the elders recounts a legend of what happened when one of his forebears was in the same position. The current day portion is filmed in black and white and the legend, which takes up most of the film, is in colour. The dialogue is in an aboriginal language but there is an English narration in addition to the subtitles.

There was lots to like. The actors are all entirely naked and for the most part had slim and beautiful bodies - the notable exception being the elderly Birrinbirrin who is addicted to honey and has an pot-belly to bear witness to that. It was gently funny with toilet humour and jokes about penis size. You get to see the effective use of spears and daily life in a traditional community.

It isn't fast paced and the meandering story line can be a bit confusing but its a very pleasant journey.

Anne's Rating: 4/5