SAMSON & DELILAH
Australia, 2009, 101 minutes, Colour.
Rowan Mc Namara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Gibson, Scott Thornton.
Directed by Warwick Thornton.
A fine film from Australia by an indigenous writer-director and cast that should be seen widely at home and abroad.
Warwick Thornton has found the right pace, tone and empathy to make this a significant story about a young man and a young woman whom many would judge as insignificant.
At the beginning of the film, the same daily routine is emphasised as day-by-day, Samson wakes up, listens to music, sniffs his jar of glue then sits waiting for something to happen. Delilah wakes, rouses her Nana and gives her her tablets, joins her in dot painting, wheels her to the infirmary and to the chapel. They live in a small town-settlement in the Northern Territory bush.
Samson doesn't talk but Rowan Mc Namara makes him an engaging mischievous character who one day kills a kangaroo by chance and proudly carries it past all the houses. But he falls foul of his brother who plays in a little band on the verandah all day. Delilah (Marissa Gibson) is wrongly accused by the aunties of the town of neglecting her Nana and is beaten. Samson and Delilah leave in the communal truck.
This first part of the film shows conditions in the town, some poor and dingy, some mod cons and some music and painting – and a lot of boredom.
The second part of the film takes Samson and Delilah to Alice Springs where the comfortable lifestyle of middle Australia is taken for granted, kerbside cafes, supermarkets, art dealers selling Nana's paintings for $22,000 each. Delilah wanders through a church, gazing at the images, while an eager young priest watches but is not able to say anything.
Samson and Delilah take refuge under a bridge in the dry Todd River bed where they are befriended and fed by a an alcoholic drifter, Gonzo (Scott Thornton) who has a sense of humour and loves singing.
Things go from bad to worse, Samson almost incessantly dependent on glue and petrol fumes. But, the final part of the film does offer hope, especially with the energies, initiatives and care by the woman, by Delilah. Women are the hope for the men.
The leads are naturals and Nana and Gonzo offer telling glimpses of the older generations. The white community is not presented in any complimentary way.
In the last eight years, there have been a number of films about, with and by aboriginal people, some using local language as does this one. One hopes there will be many more and as persuasive as this one.
1.The acclaim for the film, commercial success? At home? Abroad, festivals? The history of Australia’s indigenous people, Aboriginal-themed films in Australia and overseas?
2.The biblical overtones of the title – who helped whom? No betrayal? The image of each of the characters cutting their hair?
3.The Northern Territory landscapes, their beauty, idiosyncratic beauty? The settlement, dusty, poor? Drab? The contrast with Alice Springs? Affluent? The cafes, the shops? The church? The bridge and the bed of the Todd River? Delilah’s country at the end? The natural beauty, trees, rocks, birds, kangaroos?
4.The range of songs, local, Spanish, hymns?
5.The opening, the successive wakenings, the routine day after day? Samson, the music, sniffing the petrol? Delilah, waking her grandmother, the tablets, the painting…?
6.The picture of Samson, his age, background, his brother, learning later of his father in prison and having six months to get out (and Samson’s whoop of joy)? The band on the verandah, Samson wanting to play the guitar in modern style, the clash with his brother, their more traditional music? The later breaking of the guitar? His wandering around the settlement, watching Delilah, the love graffiti on the store wall, Delilah ignoring him, throwing him the packet? Washing, finding the kangaroo, swaggering back holding it? His dance and Delilah watching him? Bringing his bedding, her throwing it away, near the fire? The aunt and her giggling, the prospect of a husband for Delilah? Samson and his wheeling himself around in the wheelchair?
7.Delilah and her grandmother, giving her the tablets, the skill of the painting, the style of dot painting? The grandmother laughing at Delilah and Samson? Delilah wheeling her grandmother, to the infirmary, into the chapel for her to pray? Delilah sitting and waiting? The dealer, the cash for the paintings? Her reaction to Samson, the graffiti, throwing him the packet, watching him dance? Her grandmother’s death and her grief?
8.The two beatings: Samson, with the guitar, his brother bashing him? The women and their beating Delilah, accusing her of neglecting her grandmother? Samson taking the truck and their leaving?
9.On the road, Samson driving, the truck, night, the getting of petrol, abandoning the truck, walking into Alice Springs?
10.Alice Springs, the people, the supermarket and the checkout, the girl wishing a nice day, the paintings and Delilah not able to sell any, her anger and throwing the black painting at the café tourists? The dealer and the high charges for her grandmother’s art?
11.The bridge, under the bridge in the Todd River, sitting, sleeping? Samson and the petrol-sniffing, constantly? Meeting Gonzo, a character, talking, offering them food, his songs, improvising? Wanting them to speak? Samson’s only word with his name – and his stammer? Delilah wandering, going into the church, looking at the art, the priest eager but not saying anything? Delilah being abducted by the young men, their brutality, her injuries? Samson not being aware of her being taken from behind him? Sniffing the petrol, Delilah’s taking up the petrol? The accident and her going to hospital?
12.Samson getting worse, Gonzo going to rehabilitation and three meals? Delilah’s return, her injured leg?
13.Delilah and her decision, packing up, coming home? The brother coming to get them? Her car, getting the wheelchair, the food, going to her own home in her own country, caring for Samson, setting him up, washing him? The wheelchair, the windmill and her getting it going?
14.Some hope for the future, the women and their being the hope for the men?
15.The impact for Australian audiences, Aboriginal conditions, white consciousness about Aboriginal issues and their dignity? The physical, material and social needs?
