Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

In a year unusually rich in good mother-daughter movies ("Lovely & Amazing," "Rain," "Real Women Have Curves"), Phillip Noyces lovely "Rabbit-Proof Fence" provides the most wrenching demonstration of that bond.

Based on true events in Australian history, it begins with three Aboriginal girls being forcibly taken from their mothers in 1931, as part of a government solution to the "colored problem."

The countrys Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia, A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh, looking even whiter than usual), has decreed that mixed-race children must be taken from their families and trained as domestic servants and farm laborers. He has reckoned without Molly, Gracie, and Daisy, who simply want to go home.

Were it made with less art, "Rabbit-Proof Fence" would still be praiseworthy, simply for illuminating an astonishingly lengthy, disgraceful chapter in Australian history. The practice of removing "half-caste" Aboriginal children from their homes continued from 1905 to 1971, and the multitude of children affected became known as the Stolen Generations. "Rabbit-Proof Fence" is based on a 1996 book by Molly's daughter, who notes in the book that her mother, now elderly, was anxious for her story to be told before she died.

Hollywood director Noyce returned home to make this film, and his native Australia here has a strange, desolate beauty endless, bleached-out plains, dotted by cottony shrubs, extend beyond the cameras reach. And in this vastness, are three very determined small girls.

Molly, Gracie and Daisy, torn with shrieks and howls from their home in Jigalong, are taken some 1,200 miles south to the Moore River Native Settlement, to be trained as maids and to learn to sing "Swanee River" this idealization of plantation life, it turns out, is Nevilles favorite song. Molly, the oldest and most determined of the trio, devises a plan to get out. Grabbing the hand of tiny Daisy, and with Gracie close behind, she races away, and an incredible journey begins.

Noyce and screenwriter Christine Olsen keep the story simple - the girls make their way north, begging or stealing food, following the government-erected fence that should lead them home. Indeed, much of the drama of "Rabbit-Proof Fence" is in Christopher Doyles otherworldly cinematography, Peter Gabriels shimmery music, and the sharp eyes of 13-year-old Everlyn Sampi, the novice actress who plays Molly.

Sampi rarely faces the camera; her gaze eludes us, but her strength and willfulness jump off the screen. Early in the journey, Molly is asked by a friendly hunter if she really knows what shes doing the journey is more than a thousand miles. She gazes at him, unhurried, and simply nods, her jaw set. This ragtag lost girl, leading her sister and cousin, has the strength of any man.

There=B9s something of a surprise ending to "Rabbit-Proof Fence," and I dont want to spoil it, its one of this holiday seasons loveliest cinematic gifts. Rest assured that its perfect a demonstration of perseverance, the sad weight of history, and the endurance of love.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.
Sun, January 5
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