Rating: 
Summary: Best movie I've seen in a long time, or ever
Review: This movie is by far the most amazing film I've ever seen. I was completely stunned and shocked by its basis on a true story that happened within the last 100 years in what is considered a "civilized" country. There are amazing parallels between the events in both the US and Australia regarding their native peoples, and this film really brings that point home.I actually cried during this movie, and when it was over my friend and I couldn't speak for a while due to the emotions that we were feeling. When we finally did speak, it was in hushed voices with reverence for the characters and their plight, and the knowledge that this was just one story of many children who suffered the under the same circumstances. The reason I consider this to be a wonderful movie is for the emotions it invoked. It's not the type of movie that you'd call good for mind-numbing entertainment value, which is what usually passes for "good", but it was a wonderful movie for bringing you into its world and making you feel real emotions. I also like that it brought the knowledge of the "Stolen Generations" to a wider audience, an audience that might not have even known of the Australian policies towards their native peoples in the recent past.
Rating:
Summary: First rival of The Ring for best film of 2002
Review: Rabbit-Proof Fence (Phillip Noyes, 2002) If Rabbit-Proof Fence is not the best film of 2002, it's certainly within the top three, and missed 'best' by a short nose. Noyce, who is known for directing junk, not to put too fine a point on it,(Patriot Games, Sliver, Clear and Present Danger, et al), gives us his first good film since all the way back in 1989, when he took the boating scene from The Talented Mr. Ripley and turned it into the brilliant Dead Calm. Rabbit-Proof Fence is the story of three racially mixed girls, Molly (the hauntingly beautiful Everlyn Sampi in her screen debut, which has already garnered her at least one Best Actress nod), her sister Daisy (Tianna Sanbury, also a newcomer), and their cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan, and you know the refrain by now). Pitted against them is, well, all of Australian white society, and a select few aborigines as well. The three girls are taken from their home in Jigalong and sent to the Moore River camp for girls, sort of a twisted Outback version of a finishing school for indentured servants. The head of the camp (and then, through the magic of cinema, the voice of Australian white society) is Neville 'the Devil,' played by Kenneth Branagh. Despite Neville's veneer of civility, and the complexity of his feelings for aborigines ('just because they use Neolithic tools does not mean they have Neolithic minds,' he says to an assistant at one point during the film), the girls see through this façade right quick and decide to walk home, a journey of some twelve hundred mile across the Australian outback. In order to do so, they have to follow the rabbit-proof fence of the film's title, erected in the outback to keep the plagues of (British-imported) rabbits away from the farmlands. The first fifteen minutes of Rabbit-Proof fence are some of the most difficult footage to watch ever filmed; Noyce's camera angles and rapid cuts are disturbingly effective during the scenes leading up to the removal of Molly and her cohorts. Horror film aficionados in the audience will immediately recognize the camerawork as a pastiche of trickery first pioneered by George A. Romero (the blindingly fast cuts are a trademark of Dawn of the Dead, and anyone who's ever seen night of the Living Dead will recognize the car-interior perspective of people beating on the windows from early in that film). So, perhaps, Noyce has learned something from his time in America. Too bad he didn't use it when making The Saint. The film calms down from there, but stays on an emotionally high pitch throughout even when the pace slows down. The last hour of the film almost has to be slow by definition; it's hard to keep a pace up when your main plot point is three girls walking for over a thousand miles. Perhaps the best thing about Rabbit-Proof fence is that Noyce doesn't take the easy way out and turn this into a road movie. The trek isn't used as an excuse for us to watch long scenes of the three girls bonding by firelight, nor are we given long intercut scenes of what's happening in the world around them (they pick up news of pursuit from people they encounter along the way, but cut scenes of their pursuers, and Neville's reaction to the continuing frustration of same, are kept mercifully short throughout). As a result, the movie runs barely over ninety minutes, which is just about what it should be. Noyce gives the material the necessary amount of time to tell the story, and not more. Absolutely stunning. A must-see film for those who rightly believe there's something wrong with the Academy's heads for nominating the tripe they did for the Academy Awards this year. **** ½
Rating:
Summary: Great true story of the abuse of Aboriginies in Austraila
Review: Ok, its worth seeing but not worth owning at this price. So you may want to wait to buy. But the story is wondeful. If you didn't see it in the theater you will want to. In some ways its a hard story to watch. These people obviously mean well but they have no clue what they are doing the the families involved. What is totally disheartening is that this same sort of resettlement went on in the USA and Canada as well. Cultural imperialism. You will be rooting for the kids.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple But Powerful
Review: I could recall the days when we were taught about the "stolen generations" in our high school in Australia. It is definitely not a proud chapter in Australia's history & the Government does not wish to sweep it under the carpet & forget about it simply. Rather, we were taught of the nation's past, lest we forget & then, we can make sure that the Australia of the future shall never be the same again. It's really unbelievable and inconceivable that the Government of that time really believed that the assimmilation program was the best thing that could happen to the half caste children. The notion of freedom & individual rights is definitely not considered then. The premise of the runaway girls to return to their home is both disturbing and moving at the same time, amid the vast & hostile landscape of Australia, and the police that were hot on their trails. Kenneth Branagh was simply brilliant as the Protector of the Aborigines, who was also called the Devil by the children. But the stars of the show would have to be those runaway girls who were so natural with their roles. Noyce, the Director has proven that you don't need to have a big budget to create a powerful and poignant movie. To these days, land rights are still fought between the Aborigines and the Australian Government, and the living condition of the Aborigines is as bad as the Third World countries or worse. There is simply a huge gap between their living standard against the rest of Australia, and we wondered have we done enough for them? Afterall, they are the first settlers of Australia and shouldn't the Government pay more attention to them instead of diverting its attention to a war far away in Iraq?
Rating:
Summary: You don't need to be a bleeding-heart to appreciate this one
Review: The most beautiful and emotional film from Australia, and the pinnacle of independent film making- one that is intelligent, provocative and highly effective. Noyce's 'Rabbit Proof Fence' is an important film on the subject of the "Stolen Generation", the darkest and the most horrible period in the history of modern Australia. The screenplay, contrary to some reviews, is precise and without patronization. The cinematography is commendable- you'll definitely feel the isolation and the sorrow experienced by the three Aboriginal girls in a huge, uninviting outback Australia. The casts are all incredibly professional: Branagh playing the do-gooder gives a controlled yet effective performance, the great Gulpilil is deserving of the accolades, and the three girls (Evelyn, Tianna and Laura) are all professional; but it was Ningali Lawford, as the mother, who gave the most memorable, haunting performance in the film. I can only recommend a fine film like this one!
Rating:
Summary: A must see movie for all ages!!
Review: A great job of storytelling was done to recount the lives of Aboriginal families during an era of forced relocating of the mixed race children in an attempt to "save" them from themselves and their culture.
The absolute raw detail of the movie reveals how the children were kidnapped from their families and sent to be trained as domestic servants or if their skin was light enough, adopted by white Austrailian families. The children were told that they should forget about their mothers and get used to another way of life. It was the insightfulness and sheer determination of the movie's young heroine, Molly Craig, that led the girls 1500 miles through the desert and back to their families.
See it and read the book - it's a story worth knowing and one that should not be forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: An unforgettable--and true--story
Review: This is the incredible true story of three Aborigine girls, Gracie, Daisy and Molly, who were removed against their mother's wishes--by the Australian government in the 1930's. This was all part of a rather sinister government programme designed to remove half-caste children from the Aborigine way of life and habituate them to the whites' way of life. In this film, the children are taken from the Jigalong Tribe--whose camp runs adjacent to a rabbit-proof fence, and taken to the Moore River Camp more than 1,500 miles away. The children are taken and---why was I shocked at this--trained to be servants for the whites. The children with light skin are supposedly sent to school to be educated, and the darker-skinned children are trained for menial labour. But I really wonder how many 'qualified' for an education. And all this was done, of course, under the guise of betterment for the Aborginal half-caste children. The three children are abruptly and cruelly removed from their homes. Caged and treated like animals, the older girl wisely assesses the situation and makes her decision. Molly soon takes a chance when she sees it, makes her escape and dragging the other two girls, they begin walking the 1,500 miles back home along the rabbit-proof fence, and this 1,500 miles is very rugged terrain. I was genuinely shocked to learn that it was the Australian government's policy from the 1930s up until 1970 to separate these children from their homes and their parents. I noticed, in particular, that while the children were removed--supposedly for their own good so they could integrate into the houses of the white Australians (and civilisation), they are given no utensils to use during meals at their new "school," are dressed in cheap shifts, and urinate in a bucket that is emptied once a day. Kenneth Branagh does a marvellous job as Mr Neville--the chillingly dedicated reformer with a mission to clean up and sanitize the half-caste problem. Everlyn Sampi is simply amazing as Molly, the aborigine girl whose wisdom, fortitude and stubborn streak makes her succeed where others have failed. Keep an eye out for the Moore River tracker--a sympathetic character in spite of the ugliness of his job. This is a beautiful film--stunning and unforgettable--a celebration of the triumph of the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Rabbit Proof Fence
Review: Having lived in the Uk and Heard about the treatment of Aborigines in Australia I always felt deeply sad for another forgotton Race! Then I was lucky to move to Western Australia in 1991 and I relised that many people across the world have been prosecuted for who they are. As there is a possibilty of war against Iraq, woudn't it be nice if everyone forgot their colour, race, religion, or just their sad "hangups" And remembered that we all have a heart and we all breathe the same oxygen! Oh to have a peaceful world!!!!
Rating:
Summary: KEEP THE FENCE ON THE RIGHT!
Review: Its hard sometimes to think that we are part of the human race, especially when we encounter the most inhumane programs we have enforced on our fellow man. It makes you want to slink away into the jungle and mayhaps emerge on the other side and with any luck, all the bad things we have wrought, will have vanished! But, as docudrama's unfold we are again brought to the fore to witness yet another crime against each other. Rabbit-Proof Fence is such a docudrama, as we see the gov't of Australia take half white aboriginal children away from their mothers arms and send them off to schools to be taught to be domestics and to be parterned with other breeds to cull out the aborigine blood in three generations. The great men who thought this up would have fit in with Hitler like a glove. And to think that this program did not end until 1970s is beyond belief. And the present government of Australia does not offer any condolences for the program. The people of this offensive program were and are referred to as 'The Stolen Generation' Molly and Gracie are sisters and one day they are snatched away from their mother by the police like animals and along with their cousin Gracie. They are taken hundreds of miles away to be trained as domestics, and to enter a breeding program to retrieve all the white genes and breed the aboriginal gene's out. Kenneth Branagh is Dr. Neville and in charge of the program and you will not like him very much. All the children at the camp call him "Dr. Devil." The girls escape and trek some 1300-1500 miles back to their ancestral village, their ages are 14, 8, and 10. Molly remembers someone saying that the rabbit fence at their home runs the from coast to coast and they head for the outback in hopes of finding that fence. They meet some people along the way who are nice to them and head them to the fence. There is a hunt for them and no one can imagine how they have made it 600 miles away, but they cannot catch them. Every trap they set the girls get away. Molly's mother hears of her daughter journey and she and the grandmother set up a vigilance at the rabbit fence and meditate and sing a mantra and wait for the girls to return. There are some scary moments and the girls have much hardships. And you will be amazed at the acting skills of these three young women. At the end of the movie no one wanted to leave we all hung around the theater, really not knowing why, but, sadly everyone finally started leaving the theater and no one was talking...
ciao yaaah69 I gave this 5/5
Rating:
Summary: A testament to courage
Review: Ah, the arrogance of the white male is, at least historically, seemingly boundless. This profoundly affecting film tracks the capture of three half-caste aboriginal girls and the determination of Mr. Neville (head of the program to "educate and retrain" these children with the ultimate goal being the eradication of the non-white population) to get them back to the "school" for re-education. Referred to by all the aboriginals as Mr. Devil, Branagh gives a chilling performance, thin-lipped and brimming with self-righteousness--the classic do-gooder who is so convinced of the rightness of his cause that he will go to any lengths to see it to fruition. Inspiring and ultimately heartbreaking, this true tale of three small girls--led by 14-year-old indomitable Molly--determined to find their way home--twelve hundred miles of unforgiving terrain--is not to be missed. Restrained, exquisitely performed, and lyrically beautiful, it offers a piercing insight into the endless crimes committed against indigenous populations everywhere.
My highest recommendation.
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