Samson & Delilah (2009)

Writer/Director Warwick Thornton is from the Katej people of Central Australia and grew up in Alice Springs.  His passion is to document his people’s stories and share them on a big screen.  He makes movies about his community, for his community.  While Thornton’s short-films have received numerous accolades from international film festivals, ‘Samson & Delilah’ is his debut feature-length film.

‘Samson & Delilah’ follows a straight narrative, with a beginning, middle, and end – or three acts.  The first shots of the film are centred on an adolescent Aboriginal boy, Samson (played by first-time actor Rowan McNamara), as he wakes up in his makeshift single-mattress bed.  The blazing Central Australian sun is streaming into his room, and his radio, tuned to an Indigenous country music station, is bursting with song praising the beautiful new day.  Samson adorns himself in a radiant yellow checked shirt, sweeps his sun-bleached matted hair from his face, and reaches for his morning mug.  These images are all quite delightful, so when we then see Samson engulf his entire mouth and nose in the mug, and inhale deeply, the depressing reality shatters this illusion.  Inside the mug is not freshly brewed coffee, as one may have thought, but greasy, grotty petroleum.  This opening montage sets the tone for the film, and informs the audience that there will be no rose-coloured glasses approach.

Despite this grim introduction, Thornton’s film is still best labeled as a (very raw) love story.  Samson’s clumsy and juvenile displays of affection are directed towards Delilah (also a first-time acting performance, played by Marrisa Gibson) – a girl around the same age, who lives with and cares for her elderly grandmother (Mitjili Naparangka Gibson).  At first, Delilah shrugs off Samson’s persistent advances, although her grandmother cackles at what she sees as an inevitable romance.  It is not until Delilah by chance spots Samson dancing in the middle of the night that she sees something in him that sparks an unconditional love.  Even as a voyeuristic audience member, there is a real feeling of intimacy in watching the half-naked young man express himself free of all inhibition.  Perhaps this outpouring of pure freedom is what ignites Delilah’s senses, and gives her a vision of hope for a brighter future.  In any case, it is a really profound moment and one that will be forever etched into the history of memorable scenes from great Australian films.

It is in the next act that Samson and Delilah’s love begins to take form, and their frustration at living a dead-end, impoverished existence reaches boiling point.  Subsequently they become outcasts from their own community.  The journey that follows is one that will really confront white audiences.  Hopefully it will serve as a wake up call to the continuing apathy displayed by the dominant culture in this country toward the plight of disadvantaged Aborigines.  In the mainly white-populated city of Alice Springs, Samson and Delilah are met with suspicion or indifference whenever they conduct themselves as regular citizens.  I’m sure a lot of people reading this would feel some level of guilt if I were to ask how you respond to an Aboriginal person on the street begging for some spare change.  The second act of this film will forever change how you respond in future.  Thornton achieves this not by shoving the truth down your throat, rather by presenting it in a subtle and understated manner.  There are many non-verbal passages in the film, with most of the communication between the characters done through body language and eye contact.  There are only two or three heavy emotional moments, meaning that when they arrive, the impact will leave you wide-eyed and breathless.

The third and final act is where Thornton reveals his awareness of his most cherished viewer:  his community, and Aborigines in general.  There is a drastic change in tone, and it would seem Thornton’s intention is to provide a feeling of optimism for his fellow Aboriginal people.  Of course, this is a reasonable and even noble way to round off a film about, and for, his people.  The only concern I have is that it will lessen the effect of the first and second act upon all other viewers.  Understandably it is a delicate position that Thornton is in – how best to communicate an important and problematic story to a non-Indigenous audience, whilst still providing his people with a big screen movie that leaves them feeling empowered.

In spite of this slight criticism, there is certainly no disputing that ‘Samson & Delilah’ is a classic Australian film, and one that is essential viewing, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike.

Article written by Ryan Nance.

Tags: aborigines, australian movies, film reviews, films, Indigenous people, movies, ryan nance, Samson & Delilah, Two Flat Whites, Warwick Thornton

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Australian Film, Film Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.