Dead Heart (1997)

Bryan Brown (FX, Breaker Morant) stars in this powerful and provocative thriller as a lawman caught in the middle of a racially charged murder mystery. Interactive Menus, Production Credits, Scene Access, Trailer, Filmographies

"This Dirty Little Hole Is My Dreaming" ~ Getting Caught In The Middle

Ray (Bryan Brown), the resident white police officier in a remote region of the Australian Outback finds himself in over his head when a young male is murdered for descrating a local sacred site. Ray's attempts to locate the killer are hampered by the local aborginal community which views the death as required and justifiable by ancient tribal law. And so the confrontation begins.

Another great Australian film dealing with the vast differences between "white man's law" and the "old ways" of aboriginal society. Great performance by Bryan Brown and a nice cameo appearance by David Gulpilil. August 22, 2005

Touches the living heart

Bryan Brown heads an excellent cast in this tightly-scripted story about a clash between Australian and Aboriginal law. Brown is a "whitefella" torn between his duty as a policeman, and his connection to the land and community. His counterpart (Ernie Dingo) is a "blackfella" with the opposite problem--his aesthetics lie with the mainstream culture, but his heart forces him to stand by aboriginal customs. Behind these two men are a host of other characters, each adding a rich note to the theme of ambivalence connected to life in an outback settlement.
Dingo's final plea for tolerance strikes right to the heart. A wonderful film.

One comment: DVD is not captioned and the complex story can be a bit hard to follow--there were places I had to back up and watch twice to understand the Aboriginal side of the story. It was worth it! January 23, 2003

PROVOCATIVE DEPICTION OF THE CLASH OF TWO CULTURES

Made in the Australian outback, this movie depicts the clash of cultures between the Aborigine people and the 'white man.'

Wonderful acting by Bryan Brown as the police officer (Ray)trying to maintain peace and Ernie Dingo as an aborigine preacher who is sometimes caught between the aboriginal 'ways' and the 'white man's ways.'

A murder investigation brings about bitter tension between the two peoples as Ray tries desperately to bring about justice that is fair to both cultures which doesn't always work.

Very good movie. Each time you see it you see something that you didn't the time before. June 8, 2000

Powerful depiction of the collision of cultures

A few years ago, when visiting the Australian outback, I met an elderly Aboriginal man who asked me, through an intereter, "Did your parents or grandparents tell you where you come from?" By this, he went on to explain that he meant was I descended from the kangaroo, lizard, emu etc? This is not a question that a European American would easily be able to answer. When I saw this excellent Australian film, it reminded me so much of that encouter, because it depicts the divergence of the Aboriginal and European cultures in Australia. The acting and cinematography are uniformally good.

In a way, "Dead Heart" is a sort of "Mississippi Burning", set in Australia, as it depicts racial intollerance. But in another way, this film is a far more profound examination of the complexity of culture collisions. It would be interesting to view this film together with other films that explore this fascinating theme in Australia...notably Nicolas Roeg's "Walkabout" and Werner Herzog's "Where the Green Ants Dream". Too bad that, to my knowledge, there are no Aboriginal directors creating films that depict their views of all this. Perhaps they are too busy living life than viewing it at a cinema. March 5, 2000

INTENSE DRAMA - Very Australian

This movie involves the struggles of two cultures - Aboriginal and white man's - trying to live side by side in a very demanding and unredeeming environment.

It pits the Aboriginal laws against the white man's laws and shows how the officer (Brown) assigned to the post, struggles to integrate the two and keep peace between them, although not always succeeding. Bryan Brown is, as usual, very good.

If you are interested in things Australian and the outback in particular, this is a must see movie. Interesting and informative for everyone else. April 4, 1999

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