BACKROADS

Australia, 1977, 65 minutes, Colour.
Bill Hunter, Gary Foley, Terry Camilleri.
Directed by Phillip Noyce.

Backroads is the first feature directed by Phillip Noyce. He was to go on to make Newsfront and achieve great success. The film is a short feature on the back roads of New South Wales and shows themes of racial intolerance as well as illustrating them by several set speeches throughout the film. There is the loud mouthed white racist who is thrown into link with a half-caste aboriginal who is aggressive about his rights. (Gary Foley is an actual Black Rights worker.)

The catalyst of the argument is a Frenchman who is picked up and towards whom the group is hostile. The uncle of the aboriginal is the representative of the symbolic passive aboriginal who is finally freed and unleashes much violence. The divorcee represents the free woman trying to escape on the back roads. While there are set speeches about the issues, the themes are best illustrated by the action and the representation of the characters. The end is hurried and is very violent - perhaps distracting from the human relationships and themes originally explored.

1. How interesting a feature? Its impact, brevity? Style?
2. For whom was the film made? White Australian audiences? Black Australians? Overseas audience? How authentically Australian?

3. The title and the back roads photographed and explored? The Australian environment, land? The dominance of white values, racist values? White dominance? The place of the black within this environment? Dispossession? The critique of racist attitudes? How well observed behaviour and attitudes?

4. How best were the issues presented within the characters and their conflicts? Dialogue between jack and Gary? The conflict with Jean-Claude? The discussion by the aboriginals? The observation of Uncle Joe?

5. The structure of the film: the basic structure of the journey, a small odyssey around the back roads of Australia? Incidents and the introduction of character, inter-relationships, violence breaking out, final confrontation and the aftermath of violent eruption?

6. The use of location photography, the quality of the colour photography, the action sequences, the school?

7. The representatives in the group and what they symbolised? With whom could audiences identify? White audiences and Jack, or Jean- Claude, or Anna? White audiences empathising with Gary, Uncle Joe?

8. The presentation of the way of life in the small town, the jail, police? Cars and the stealing of cars? The getting of supplies by confidence tricks, stealing? The roads, driving? The picking up of hitch-hikers?

9. The portrait ofjack and Gary? Black and white as drifters in common, as antagonists? Their philosophies of life and expression of this? The negative views and pessimism? The purpose of their journey? Seeing the two of them in action? The contrast with Joe?

10. The portrait of Uncle Joe, his reservation background, his seeming apathy, his going along for the ride, his delight in the sea? His being 'liberated'? The sudden eruption of violence? His arrest and justice to be rendered? A symbol of the reserve aboriginal? The contrast with Gary symbolising the civilised aboriginal, the half-caste in the towns?

11. Jean- Claude as a type, wandering the back roads? His amorous advances on Anna? The clash with Jack and his being put out? As a white figure? What did he have in common with Jack? With Gary?

12. The portrait of Anna, her work, drifting, going along for the ride, relationship with jean Claude? Her attitudes? Her decision to take the car?

13. The suddenness of the violent death of the Mercedes owner? The reaction of the group? Police? The need for justice?

14. The arrest, Gary's stance, the inevitability of his death or not? The symbolism of Gary meeting a violent death?

15. The aftermath of the film? Are racist attitudes able to be overcome? Is inter-racial peace possible? Or is this kind of back roads clash, violence and death, inevitable? The symbolism of Uncle Joe on trial?