85. The New Boy; movie review

 

THE NEW BOY

Cert 15

116 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent very strong language

What must it be like to be a foreigner in your own country?

I hear this phrase misused by right-wing white people in Britain who perceive that the state has been overrun by immigrants.

In fact, around 14.8 per cent of the UK population are immigrants - as opposed to Australia, where the figure is between 85 and 90 per cent.

Indeed, white immigrant descendants Down Under have long considered the indigenous people as outsiders.

Europeans brought religion to inflict upon the Aboriginal people and that is the foundation of Warwick Thornton's The New Boy.

This surreal movie is set in the Outback during the Second World War at a monastery run by a renegade nun (Cate Blanchett).

After the unannounced death of its priest, she is effectively the head teacher of a boarding school for orphans who are being prepared for the outside world.

The most recent arrival is a nine-year-old Aboriginal boy (Aswan Reid) who is dropped there in the middle of the night by a police officer.

He is welcomed but at odds with the other boys on the most basic levels - he sleeps on the floor, doesn't speak English and finds it impossible to master cutlery.

But he also has unfathomable spiritual abilities which he takes for granted.

Thus, we see an attempt to impose religion on the boy despite no way it can improve his life.

Thornton was inspired to create The New Boy by his experience of growing up as an Aboriginal child in a Christian boarding school.

It attacks issues similar to his previous movie, the excellent Sweet Country, which was bleak, moving, and important.

The New Boy is more whimsical, occasionally amusing but also brutal in parts. Consequently, its message is not so clear.

It looks good, Reid excels and Blanchett is a treasure but falls below Sweet Country for us.

Reasons to watch: Unusual and intriguing

Reasons to avoid: Not easy to follow

Laughs: One

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? To displace Indigenous peoples from their lands is a grievous sin against them, their lands, their ancestors, and God, accoring to the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.

The final word. Warwick Thornton: "I'm Aboriginal — every day is survival for us. And I've got a voice. I get money off the government to tell the government they're terrible. That's bizarre — that happens, and that's what I do." Concrete Playground

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