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'A set of mountain ranges in the outback, 1922 ... horseback country, and the Fanatic leads the two other white men, the Follower and the Philosopher, and the Tracker, in the pursuit of the Fugitive. Through massacre and murder the hunt continues, until the clear-cut notions of truth and justice are subverted and the questions become not will the Fugitive be caught, but what is black and what is white and who is leading whom?'
Source: Screen Australia.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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At Nature's Mercy : The Contemporary Australian Western
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Screen Education , no. 96 2020; (p. 46-55)'A genre mostly associated with quintessentially American landscapes and cultural tropes, the western has developed its own fascinating tradition in Australia - most notably, since the turn of the twenty-first century. Brian McFarlane surveys a range of films from the last two decades, dealing with subjects such as bushrangers, abuse and colonial dispossession, and finds both echoes of US antecedents and new visions that blaze their own distinctive trails.'
Source: Abstract.
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From Massacre Creek to Slaughter Hill : The Tracks of Mystery Road
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 10 no. 1 2016; (p. 143-155) 'Ivan Sen’s 2013 feature Mystery Road [dir., 2013. Sydney: Mystery Road Films] seeks to break out of the arthouse mould of most Aboriginal cinema in its calculated adaptation of two seemingly disparate Hollywood genres, film noir and the western: genres which are foregrounded in the style and marketing of the film. Aaron Pedersen in his starring role as ‘Indigenous cowboy detective’ Jay Swan strikes a delicate balance between his compromised role as agent of the state and as freewheeling hero, for his role as a detective is underpinned by the ‘treacherous’ historical legacy of the tracker. In this article, I trace the central importance of the tracker figure in a reading of Mystery Road, taking in, among other texts, Sen's 1999 film Wind [dir., 1999. Australia: Mayfan Film Productions] and Arthur Upfield's ‘Bony’ novels. The troubled status of the tracker feeds into the noirish elements of Mystery Road, which ultimately requires a new kind of hero to emerge so that retribution may be enacted for past and present wrongs. That hero is the cowboy, a part for which Pedersen has been dressed all along.' (Publication abstract) -
The 100 Best Australian Films of the New Millenium
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 22 September 2016; -
Screen Memories : Film's Knowing and Historical Trauma in The Tracker
2016
single work
essay
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 10 no. 3 2016; (p. 306-323) This paper examines Rolf de Heer’s 2002 film, ‘The Tracker’, in the context of the ‘history war’ debates relating to frontier violence that were rehearsed in the Australian public sphere during the 1990s/2000s. I examine how ‘The Tracker’ challenges the very terms underpinning conventional forms of historiography, wedded to discourses of ‘fact’ and ‘truth’, in the way it investigates what it means to ‘screen’ memory within the context of the politics of the present. Focusing on ‘The Tracker's' self-conscious use of Peter Coad's arresting paintings of frontier violence, I argue that ‘The Tracker’ develops a nuanced engagement with frontier history in the way it highlights the dialectics of ‘revealing’ and ‘concealing’ – rupture and disavowal – at play in the nation’s ‘screening’ of frontier violence. -
Postcolonial Longing on the Australian Cinematic Frontier
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Ilha Do Desterro : A Journal of English Language , vol. 69 no. 2 2016; 'The Tracker and Red Hill are cinematic re-interpretations of Australia’s colonial past, which they characterise by a sense of postcolonial longing and an expectation of intimacy. Both films are portals through which arguments about historical truth, subjective memory and contemporary realities are explored and tested. In this paper I argue that both these two films create the idea that the historical colonial space was a constant interplay of violence and beauty, and of hatred and friendship. As black and white characters negotiate their way in and around these seemingly polemical positions, viewers are also challenged to do the same.' (Publication abstract)
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Untitled
2007-2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Zeitschrift fur Australienstudien , no. 21-22 2007-2008; (p. 237-239)
— Review of The Tracker 2002 single work film/TV ; Ten Canoes 2006 single work film/TV -
Untitled
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , July-August no. 21 2002;
— Review of The Tracker 2002 single work film/TV -
Opening Night, The Tracker
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , July-August no. 21 2002;
— Review of The Tracker 2002 single work film/TV -
Untitled
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 72 2011; (p. 50)
— Review of The Tracker 2002 single work film/TV -
The Tracker (Rolf de Heer, 2002)
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , September no. 64 2012;
— Review of The Tracker 2002 single work film/TV -
Back Tracking
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 62 no. 1 2003; (p. 59-68) Examines some issues raised by the making of Australian films about Aboriginal people in historical settings by white filmmakers. -
Shared Dreamings Waiting to be Filmed
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 31 May 2005; (p. 15) -
Out from the Shadows
2006
single work
criticism
(taught in 1 units)
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 65 no. 1 2006; (p. 55-64) Discusses the characterisation of the Aboriginal tracker in Australian films. -
An Ethics of Following and the No Road Film: Trackers, Followers and Fanatics
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , December no. 37 2005; 'Fiona Probyn analyses filmic treatments of the Aboriginal tracker and their implications for conceptions of sovereignty, ownership and reconciliation.' (Editor's note) Probyn takes as her case studies Rolf de Heer's The Tracker and Stephen Muecke's No Road : Bitumen All the Way. -
Disputing History : Remembering Country in the Tracker and Rabbit-Proof Fence
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , October vol. 37 no. 128 2006; (p. 35-54)
Awards
- 2002 winner Film Critics Circle of Australia — Best Film
- 2002 winner Venice Film Festival — SIGNIS Award
- 2002 nominated Venice Film Festival — Golden Lion
- 2002 nominated Inside Film Awards — Best Script
- 2002 winner Inside Film Awards — Best Feature Film
- Bush,
- 1922