Black and White (2002)

Recreation of the landmark 1958 South Australian Court trial of young aboriginal Max Stuart.

Director:

Craig Lahiff

Writer:

Louis Nowra

Stars:

Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance, Kerry Fox

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Carlyle	...	David O'Sullivan
Charles Dance	...	Roderic Chamberlain
Kerry Fox	...	Helen Devaney
David Ngoombujarra	...	Young Max Stuart
Max Stuart	...	Old Max Stuart
Colin Friels	...	Father Tom Dixon
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Rupert Murdoch
Bille Brown	...	Thomas Playford
John Gregg	...	Rohan Rivett
Roy Billing	...	Det-Sgt Turner
Gary Waddell	...	Const. Jones
Patrick Duggin	...	Policeman #1
Andrew Martin	...	Policeman #2
Frank Gallacher	...	Justice Reed
Rhys McConnochie	...	Justice Abbott

Storyline

True story that created headline news in 1959. A young aboriginal man Max Stuart, was convicted of murder in the light of questionable evidence presented, of nine year old Mary Hattam near Ceduna, on the south coast of Australia. International News Media Baron, Rupert Murdoch (played by Ben Mendelsohn), then publisher of the Adelaide "News," became the driving force behind securing a re-trial for Stuart.

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Plot Keywords:

trial | prosecutor | judge | hearing | young version of character | 

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Taglines:

One man's conviction divided a nation

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Australia UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 2002 (Australia)

Filming Locations:

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Duo Art Productions, Scala Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Variations in E Flat, K.353"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Joseph Beckitt

User Reviews

A Provocative Australian Period Piece

South Australian lawyers still argue passionately about the guilt or innocence or Rupert Maxwell Stuart.

A young white girl was brutally raped and murdered.

A part-Aboriginal man was accused. He was drunk (and, by admission, lust filled) at the time the offence occurred.

At the time, the commission of such an offence would have seen Stuart swinging at the end of a rope.

Enter Robert Carlile (playing David O'Sullivan) and Kery Fox (Helen Devaney) his impoverished lawyers, passionate, and alcoholic respectively.

This is the story of how this unlikely (and tragic, for O'Sullivan and Fox, in real life, self-destructed soon afterwards) worked day and night to save Stuart from the gallows.

Instrumental in this was the young Rupert Murdoch (Ben Mendelson) and the Priest Father Tom Dixon.

The point of all this is not Stuart's guilt or innocence. It is about O'Sullivan and Fox, and their 15 minutes of fame. It is about Murdoch, and the ways in which the press influences criminal justice (there were two South Australian hangings after the Stuart case), reported, by Murdoch's "The News" in sober and pro-government terms.

For those reasons, as an examination of long ago attitudes, and of issues of press influence, this is an important film.

A great movie? Probably not? Consider the following. When Murdoch sits down with the defence team to discuss his proposed press campaign for a reprieve, and is told that if the public will not warm to Stuart's case and Murdoch will not personally intervene, "a man will die".

Murdoch replies, "then a man will die!".

This not a movie about Stuart and Chamberlain; it's about O'Sullivan, Cox, Murdoch and the media. It's about hard-working lawyers and cynical Newspapermen. And on that level, it succeeds.