Ten Canoes

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Product Description ------------------- Australia's first feature length film in an Aboriginal language, Ten Canoes, has taken out the top prize at the Australian Film Industry (AFI) awards in Melbourne. Ten Canoes won the best film category, and also picked up best direction for Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr. The film took out six awards in total, including best original screenplay and best cinematography. From accled director Rolf de Heer (The Tracker, Bad Boy Bubby, Alexandra's Project), Ten Canoes was Australia's official entry in the 'Best Foreign Film' category at the 2007 Os. The film is narrated by the legendary David Gulpilil (Walkabout, Rabbit Proof fence, the Proposition). .com ---- An art-house film filled with more humor and skilled acting than most Hollywood blockbusters, Ten Canoes is a wry story within a story. The tone of the film is set when narrator David Gulpilil (Crocodile Dundee) says, "Once upon a time in a land far, far away...." He stops himself with a warm, hearty chuckle and adds, "I'm only joking." Director Rolf de Heer does a fine job with his cast of novice actors, who depict a life most moviegoers are unfamiliar with. Set in Australia's far northern Arnhem Land, the film--which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival--tells the tale of friendship, deception, and forbidden love. Ten tribesmen venture on a trip where they will build canoes, gather food, and gossip about their sexual prowess and their wives. During the trip, Minygululu (Peter Minygululu) regales his younger brother Dayindi (played by David Gulpilil's son, Jamie Gulpilil) with stories of a man who lusts after his older sibling's wife. It is giving nothing away to reveal that Dayindi has a crush on Minygululu's youngest bride. Handled differently, the film could've been saddled with the ick factor of siblings chasing after the same young woman. But the way de Heer presents it, it is a parable that distinguishes between right and wrong, in an entertaining and non-judgmental way. Cinematographer Ian Jones is to be commended for his amazing work. He frames the s in a superb fashion and showcases the raw beauty of the land--and the people--that time has forgotten. --Jae-Ha Kim