Sweet Country (2017)

Hamilton Morris is Sam Kelly, an aborigine working on Fred Smith’s ranch in Australia at the turn of the century.

Harry March (Ewen Leslie), owner of neighboring North Creek Station, shows up looking for help. Kelly, his wife and niece agree to spend a day working on the March property.

They put in a full day’s work and aren’t even given a meal. March’s creepy attitude toward young Lucy prompts Kelly to urge Smith to take her to town as a precaution.

And, unbeknownst to Kelly, March raped his wife while the black man was out rounding up his cattle.

Next, March visits the ranch of Mike Kennedy and asks to borrow his blacks for a day. He immediately puts young Philomac in chains.

The youth makes his escape. Drunk and angry, March shows up at the Smith homestead, thinking Kelly and his family are hiding the boy.

He begins firing shots into their home. In self-defense, Kelly fires back and kills the man.

He immediately recognizes the reality of the situation. He’s just killed a white man. So regardless of the justification, he grabs his wife’s hand and they flee into the wilderness.

It’s the job of Sgt. Fletcher (Bryan Brown) to bring back the killer to stand trial. He’s accompanied by the eager Constable Minty, the bigoted Kennedy, Kennedy’s black helper named Archie and by Fred Smith. The latter insists on riding along to make sure Kelly comes back alive.

Even on foot and chased by men on mounts, Sam Kelly is able to stay a step ahead of his pursuers.

But the trip is taking its toll on his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey Furber). That’s partly because she finds herself in a family way after being raped by March.

Hamilton Morris as Sam Kelly, on trial for murder for killing a white man in Sweet Country (2017)

Bryan Brown as Sgt. Fletcher, the man responsible for hunting down Sam Kelly in Sweet Country (2017)

Review:

A film about racism on the frontier in Australia, impressively done, though very slowly paced at times.

It helps that not every white character is a bigoted idiots. Smith believes all men are created equally; the judge truly tries to conduct a fair trial.

And though he’s tried his damnedest to bring Kelly in, even Sgt. Fletcher warns the settlers that they’ll have to abide by the court’s decision, regardless of their sentiment that the aborigine deserves to be hanged.

Over the course of the film, it’s clear that what type of country Australia is depends on your point of view.

Fletcher sees it as a sweet country, ripe for cattle ranching. The aborigines, stripped of their land and their culture, have a different perspective.

And Smith’s quite convinced the country just might be damned.

Sam Neill as Fred Smith, the religious man who proclaims we’re all equal in Sweet Country (2017)

Thomas M. Wright as Mick Kennedy confronting Philomac about what he knows in Sweet Country (2017)

Directed by:
Warwick Thornton

Cast:
Hamilton Morris … Sam Kelly
Shanika Cole … Lucy
Ewen Leslie … Harry March
Sam Neill … Fred Smith
Thomas M. Wright … Mick Kennedy
Gibson John … Archie
Tremayne Doolan … Philomac
Trevon Doolan … Philomac
Natassia Gorey Furber … Lizzie
Bryan Brown … Sgt. Fletcher
Anni Finsterer … Nell
Luka Magdeline Cole … Olive
Tom Willoughby … Constable Minty
Lachlan J. Modrzynski … Constable Campbell
Martin McMillan … Barney

Runtime 113 min.

Natassia Gorey Furber as Lizzie, informing her husband she’s pregnant in Sweet Country (2017)

Ewen Leslie as Harry March, the bigoted white man who starts the trouble in Sweet Country (2017)

Memorable lines:

Lucy to her husband Sam: “He’s the one that did it. Why blame me? You’re supposed to be a man. You’re no man.”

Philomac: “This my country.”
Archie: “Kennedy’s country now. Not yours no more.”

Sgt. Fletcher: “You hear that hammerin’, boy. They’re gonna hang you hard. You think the law’s gonna protect you? Well, I am the law.”

Judge: “Why did you run, Mr. Kelly?”
Sam Kelly: “I shot a whitefella.”

Fred Smith: “What chance has this country got?”

Matt Day as Judge Taylor, questioning witnesses at Sam Kelly’s trial in Sweet Country (2017)

Philomac, the bastard song of Mick Kennedy. Twins Tremayne and Travon Doolan played the part in Sweet Country (2017)

Shanika Cole as Lucy, the niece Sam Kelly tries to protect in Sweet Country (2017)

Anni Finsterer as Nell, saloon waitres and sometimes Fletcher’s companion in Sweet Country (2017)

Gibson John as Archie, testifying at Sam Kelly’s trial in Sweet Country (2017)

Hamilton Morris as Sam Kelly, answering questions about the killing of Harry March in Sweet Country (2017)