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The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
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Synopsis
Based on a novel by Thomas Keneally, which was in turn inspired by actual events, this drama is a shocking indictment of the racism inflicted on the indigenous people of Australia. Jimmie (Tommy Lewis) is a half-white, half-aborigine young man raised by a Methodist minister. Feeling outcast among the aborigines, Jimmie moves to the city and gets a job working for a white family. When a white serving girl at the estate becomes pregnant, everyone is convinced that Jimmie is the father; to spare the girl's honor, Jimmie marries her and is allowed to live with her on the estate. But after the child is born, everyone realizes that the father was a white man, not Jimmie; he is still willing to accept the child and stand beside his wife, but his employers now feel that he married a white girl under false pretenses, and they bar him from the estate. Forbidden to see his wife and fired without receiving his pay, Jimmie finally explodes in a fury of violent revenge. Director Fred Schepisi's original cut of this film runs 122 minutes, though it was more widely distributed in a shortened version running 108 minutes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

Elizabeth Alexander Petra Graf
Ray Barrett Constable Farrell
Peter Carroll McCready
Freddy Reynolds Mort Blacksmith
Jack Thompson Rev. Neville
Tommy Lewis Jimmie Blacksmith

Production Crew

Thomas Keneally Book Author
Ian Baker Cinematographer
Bruce Smeaton Composer (Music Score)
Bruce Finlayson Costume Designer
Daro Gunzberg Costume Designer
Fred Schepisi Director
Brian Kavanagh Editor
Fred Schepisi Producer
Wendy Dickson Production Designer
Fred Schepisi Screenwriter
Year: 1978
Runtime: 122
Country: Australia
MPAA Rating: R
Category: Feature

Genre
Drama

Color type
Eastmancolor

Produced by
Australia Party
Film House Group

Awards
1980 - Best Foreign Film - New York Film Critics Circle