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IMDbPro

Rabbit-Proof Fence

  • 20022002
  • PGPG
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
29K
YOUR RATING
Laura Monaghan, Everlyn Sampi, and Tianna Sansbury in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Trailer
Play trailer1:25
3 Videos
32 Photos
BiographyDrama
In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
29K
YOUR RATING
    • Phillip Noyce
    • Doris Pilkington(book "Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence")
    • Christine Olsen(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Everlyn Sampi
    • Tianna Sansbury
    • Kenneth Branagh
    • Phillip Noyce
    • Doris Pilkington(book "Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence")
    • Christine Olsen(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Everlyn Sampi
    • Tianna Sansbury
    • Kenneth Branagh
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 262User reviews
    • 48Critic reviews
    • 80Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos3

    Rabbit-Proof Fence
    Trailer 1:25
    Watch Rabbit-Proof Fence
    Rabbit-Proof Fence
    Trailer 1:25
    Watch Rabbit-Proof Fence
    Rabbit-Proof Fence
    Trailer 1:09
    Watch Rabbit-Proof Fence

    Photos32

    Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury and Laura Monagan
    Kenneth Branagh, Laura Monaghan, Everlyn Sampi, and Tianna Sansbury in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Kenneth Branagh in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Kenneth Branagh and David Gulpilil in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Laura Monaghan, Everlyn Sampi, and Tianna Sansbury in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Kenneth Branagh in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Jason Clarke in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Laura Monaghan and Tianna Sansbury in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Jason Clarke, Ningali Lawford, Laura Monaghan, and Everlyn Sampi in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Kenneth Branagh and Everlyn Sampi in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Everlyn Sampi in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
    Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Everlyn Sampi
    Everlyn Sampi
    • Molly Craig
    Tianna Sansbury
    Tianna Sansbury
    • Daisy Craig Kadibill
    Kenneth Branagh
    Kenneth Branagh
    • A.O. Neville
    Laura Monaghan
    • Gracie Fields
    David Gulpilil
    David Gulpilil
    • Moodoo
    Ningali Lawford
    Ningali Lawford
    • Maud - Molly's Mother
    Myarn Lawford
    • Molly's Grandmother
    Deborah Mailman
    Deborah Mailman
    • Mavis
    Jason Clarke
    Jason Clarke
    • Constable Riggs
    Natasha Wanganeen
    • Nina, Dormitory Boss
    Garry McDonald
    Garry McDonald
    • Mr. Neal at Moore River
    Roy Billing
    Roy Billing
    • Police Inspector
    Lorna Lesley
    • Miss Thomas
    • (as Lorna Leslie)
    Celine O'Leary
    • Miss Jessop
    Kate Roberts
    • Matron at Moore River
    Tracy Monaghan
    • Moodoo's Daughter
    Tamara Flanagan
    • Olive, Escaped Girl
    David Ngoombujarra
    • Kangaroo Hunter
      • Phillip Noyce
      • Doris Pilkington(book "Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence")
      • Christine Olsen(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Everlyn Sampi (Molly Craig) ran away twice during filming. In one instance, she was found in a phone booth, trying to buy tickets back to Broome.
    • Goofs
      The three girls Molly, Gracie and Daisy were not taken by surprise and removed by force from Jigalong. The violent removal scene in the film is entirely fictional. The girls' mothers were informed beforehand they were to travel with Constable Riggs and, without any protest, they acquiesced in the decision. The girls left Jigalong on horseback, not locked in a motor car.
    • Quotes

      Daisy Kadibill: [after Molly lifts Daisy up to a bird's nest to gather some eggs to eat] Three of them!

      Molly Craig: Perfect. One for you, one for me, and one for both of us!

    • Crazy credits
      The painting songs sung by the Walpiri, Amatjere and Wangajunka women were not sacred songs, but were songs able to be performed in public.
    • Connections
      Edited from A Steam Train Passes (1974)
    • Soundtracks
      Ngankarrparni
      (Sky Blue Reprise) (2002)

      Written by Peter Gabriel

      Featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama and Myarn Lawford (as Myarn) and Ningali Lawford

    User reviews262

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Phil Noyce gives us film poetry, not propaganda
    MILD SPOILER AHEAD: This is the 200th film I have reviewed for IMDb and one of the most satisfying. Phil Noyce has produced here a piece of cinematic poetry when it could have easily been tendentious agit-prop. The story from the 1930s of three half-cast aboriginal girls walking 2000 km of Western Australia to escape the clutches of white assimilationists is seen through their frame of reference. We see the harsh beauty of the countryside as they do, not an alien landscape but as their back yard. They have all been brought up in the desert and together know how to survive, a point eventually realised by their pursuers, who then lie in wait at their destination.

    The three young girls, Mollie, Grace and Daisy, are stunningly portrayed by Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sainsbury and Laura Monaghan. Molly, at 14 the oldest, has the largest part but the three of them function together as if they really were sisters. Their mother and grandmother , played by Ningali Lawson and Myana Lawson (daughter and mother in real life) are equally convincing, as is David Gulpilil as the relentless black tracker.

    The most difficult role in the film is that of A O Neville (Mr Devil, as the aborigines called him), Chief Protector of Aborigines, a sincere and energetic advocate of the monstrous policy which resulted in a generation or more of half-cast children being removed from their families. It would be easy to pillory Neville as a monster, but Kenneth Branagh manages to give us a rounded picture of a man who was not inhumane, who tried to advance what he saw as the welfare of his charges despite lack of money and enormous logistical problems (not to mention an unco-operative police force). Had it not been for these obstacles the aboriginality of Australia would probably have been reduced to a few scattered reserves in the deserts run as freak shows for tourists.

    Some critics of the armchair lefty variety have criticised the movie as not being political enough, and its true there's plenty of room for righteous (or leftist) indignation on the topic of the stolen generation, but I think a more overt political message would have diminished it. Imagine say, if John Pilger had made this film. Instead we have a near-classic. Never I have I seen the visual power of the Australian landscape better depicted, and seldom have I seen a better celebration of the human spirit. And this is a true story. The real Molly and Daisy take their bows at the end. Things didn't quite work out for them the way they might have, but they survived and stayed with their people.
    helpful•12
    5
    • Philby-3
    • Apr 29, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 31, 2003 (United States)
      • Australia
      • Hanway Films
      • English
      • Aboriginal
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
    • Production companies
      • Rumbalara Films
      • The Australian Film Commission
      • Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 34 minutes
      • Color
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS

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