Saw Rabbit Proof Fence.
Terrific stuff. Sure it's an easy heart-tugger--kids vs. impossible odds, aborigines vs. misguided whites, so on and so forth. But I like the way Noyce doesn't underline the drama and keeps everything levelheaded and somber, leavened with moments of deadpan humor (the kids giggling behind the nun's back, Branagh and company shot like a smalltown church congregation, the women smiling when the deputy backs away from their spear).
I like it that Branagh plays his role like a harassed, underfunded bureaucrat; I like it that he gets the best lines--stuff like not underestimating the aborigine, and his incessant wish, that they understand what he's trying to do for them. It's his exhaustion that makes his performance so compelling--his racism is so basic, so taken-for-granted he's weary of people misunderstanding it.
Wonderful film.
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