Cady's Take:

Australian law in the early '30s allowed authorities to remove children from their homes "for their own protection.” This was for the aboriginals, which meant that "half-caste" children (white fathers) could be forcefully taken from their mothers and given to white families, who would provide a "better" life.

The stars of the film are– 14-year-old Molly (Everlyn Sampi), her 8-year-old sister, Daisy (Tianna Sansbury), and their 10-year-old cousin, Gracie (Laura Monaghan). Noyce's film follows the fate of these three indigenous girls from the Jigalong mob in Western Australia. The children were taken from their home and relocated to a mission, the Moore River Native Settlement, situated some 2000 kilometers away. Although to me it seemed more like a concentration camp than a boarding school, far out in the country, administered by matrons in starched white uniforms.

The title refers to Australia’s answer to the Great Wall of China. A waist-high chain fence that runs from northern to southern coast to keep rabbits from western farmlands. The girls escape and begin making their way back home, cleverly using the fences as a directional aid. I don’t remember when I’ve seen youngsters appear more natural on screen.” Rabbit-Proof Fence" is a well-made film all the way around.

“Rabbit-Proof Fence” is hands down one of the best movies I have seen. This is one of those movies you watch and then hit Google to find out more about. I was absolutely mesmerized by every aspect of this movie; the actors, dialogue, and scenery were perfect. “Rabbit Proof Fence” is a story about family, courage, and human rights. In Australia, starting in the 1930s, a government program was developed that removed Aboriginal children with white heritage from their Aboriginal homes and moved them off to orphanages. The idea was essentially to breed the Aboriginal blood – and color – out of them, “turning” them white. What is truly amazing is, at the end of the movie in the “follow up text” provided by the filmmakers (Christine Olsen writer, Philip Noyce director) we learn that this government-sanctioned program continued until the 1970s! These children are now referred to as the “Stolen Generations” and there are literally thousands of families who have no idea how to find their children, mothers, fathers, and who will never know their real families again. “Rabbit-Proof Fence” is based on the book by Doris Pilkington, which is based on the story of her mother Molly, and is a truly moving piece of film.

The movie chronicles the journey of Molly, Daisy and Gracie. Molly and Daisy are sisters and Gracie is their cousin. They are kidnapped and literally dragged from their screaming, crying relatives and thrown into a car where they are taken over 1000 miles away to an orphanage where they will be trained as laborers and eventually sent out into the workforce, presumably to serve whites. After they arrive at the orphanage it isn’t long before Molly takes the other girls and begins the long journey home – on foot, and staying barely one step ahead of white pursuers and one Aboriginal tracker named MooDoo. I was disappointed they didn’t go further into the story of MooDoo, whose daughter was one of the orphanage girls but he was not permitted to speak with her. He halfheartedly tracked these young girls. Whether he overlooked clues, or missed them we’ll never know, but there was a haunting sadness about this man that I found intriguing.

Kenneth Branaugh plays Mr. Neveill, the man who is in charge of all Aboriginal peoples in Australia. However the real performances here are from Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, and Laura Monaghan – all three girls are native Aboriginal children with no prior acting experience. Especially powerful was the performance of Molly (Sampi) who leads her sister and cousin 1500 miles along the “rabbit-proof fence” that runs the length of Australia toward home. I cannot recommend this movie strongly enough.