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'Set in central-western New South Wales in the 1890s, Fred Schepisi’s film of Thomas Keneally’s award-winning novel is a powerful and confronting story of a black man’s revenge against an unjust and intolerant society.
'Raised by missionaries, Jimmie Blacksmith, a young half-caste Aboriginal man, is poignantly caught between the ways of his black forefathers and those of the white society to which he aspires. Exploited by his boss and betrayed by his [white] wife, he declares war on his white employers and goes on a violent killing spree.
'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was one of the most significant films of the 1970s ‘renaissance’. It was the first Australian feature in which the whole story is told from an Aboriginal perspective and it broke new ground in dealing with one of the most tragic aspects of Australian history: the racist treatment of the Aboriginal population. The spectre of the violent and vengeful black had barely been touched upon and the depth of rage that the film put on screen was unprecedented in Australian film at the time.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
[Review] The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Zeitschrift fur Australienstudien , no. 23 2009; (p. 167-172)
— Review of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 2008 single work criticism -
Re-ambiguate the Positive
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July-August no. 303 2008; (p. 45-46)
— Review of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 2008 single work criticism ; The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 2008 single work criticism -
Off the Shelf : Film
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 14 June 2008; (p. 32)
— Review of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 2008 single work criticism -
Classic Under Fire : The Trial of Jimmie Blacksmith
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 April 2008; (p. 5) Was Jimmy Governor, on whom the title character from both the novel and the film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was based, an authentic, indigenous hero fighting for racial equality, or a murderous bushranger? -
The Truth about the Fiction
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 April 2008; (p. 8)
-
Off the Shelf : Film
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 14 June 2008; (p. 32)
— Review of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 2008 single work criticism -
Re-ambiguate the Positive
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July-August no. 303 2008; (p. 45-46)
— Review of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 2008 single work criticism ; The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 2008 single work criticism -
[Review] The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Zeitschrift fur Australienstudien , no. 23 2009; (p. 167-172)
— Review of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 2008 single work criticism -
The Truth about the Fiction
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 April 2008; (p. 8) -
Classic Under Fire : The Trial of Jimmie Blacksmith
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 April 2008; (p. 5) Was Jimmy Governor, on whom the title character from both the novel and the film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was based, an authentic, indigenous hero fighting for racial equality, or a murderous bushranger?
Awards
- 2008 highly commended Film and History Association Research and Writing Awards
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 1978 single work film/TV
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith 1972 single work novel