The films success has also paved the way for other, more widely palatable films, such as 2012s the sapphires, a musical about an aboriginal allfemale singing group. Day in and day out, nothing changes, everything stays the same and no one seems to care. A really good film showing the grim realities of aboriginal life through the lovestory of samson. Described as a survival love story by the director, the film depicts two indigenous australian 14yearolds living in a remote aboriginal community who steal a car and escape their difficult. After a century of white filmmakers controlling often by default the cinematic presentation of aboriginal culture, therese davis wonders whether samson and delilah marks the start of. A gluesniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the governmentcontrolled nohope aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, alice springs, looking for a better life. Adelaide film festival bigpond audience award for best feature.
Some critics believe the phone is a onedimensional symbol, inserted to represent the isolation of the town. Samson and delilah is first and foremost a love story, but it is also an unflinching look at life in an aboriginal community outside alice springs which is wracked by violence, substance abuse. The two teenagers soon discover that life outside the community can be cruel. But, by the time young delilah cuts her hair out of respect for a dead relative about a third of the way into the film, samson and delilah has given its title a subtly layered meaning, and her act becomes a heartbreaking moment in which indigenous mourning tradition resonates with the bible story. Love and race in samson and delilah one room with a view.
It won the camera dor for best first feature at the 2009 cannes international film festival and was nominated for afi awards, including best actor mcnamara, actress gibson, supporting actress mitjili gibson, editing roland gallois and original music score. They participate in aboriginal traditions such as creating. Samson and delilah is a film aboriginal culture in australia. They live in a remote aboriginal community in the center of australia. In fact, homelessness is a crucial social issue in australia today, as on any given night. Curators notes samson and delilah 2009 on aso australia. Rakethin samson, aged 15, wakes in his bleak shanty room and immediately starts sniffing dregs of petrol from a battered tin. Warwick thornton has shared some ideas from the director chair canvas by stating, everybody has a moment when they want to shine a light on an issue or a section of society that doesnt really have a voice, i chose aboriginal tribes. Although the characters share their names with an illfated couple from a biblical epic, this samson and delilah are aboriginal 14yearolds from a tiny, dirtpoor. The honest naturalism of the two young leads is the main reason for the films intense grip and power. Samson and delilah is a 1949 american romantic biblical drama film produced and directed by cecil b. Delilah spends her days caring for and painting with her nana, samson is a chronic petrol sniffer who has cast his eyes on delilah. The movie samson and delilah directed by warwick thornton deservedly won the cannes film festival camera dor award for best first feature film in 2009. Across the dusty track, 16yearold delilah wakes to care for her.
Samson and delilah are 14yearolds who live in an aboriginal community near alice springs. In amongst a tiny collection of houses, everything here happens in a cycle. Warwick thornton, through his touching film, addresses the issue of aboriginal homelessness. Oct 10, 2010 samson does not appear to have a family or any means of support, while delilah lives with an elderly grandmother who creates aboriginal folk art that is sold for great sums in metropolitan galleries but the nasty ol white guys that run the art racket only give granny a teeny percent of the sales. Samson and delilah 2009 where to watch streaming and. He escapes the boredom of his life by sniffing petrol and has doe eyes for delilah, who takes care of her grandmother and helps to sell the old womans colourful art. Melissa gibson who plays delilah takes on a role of the hero in the movie, rowan mcnamara who plays samson takes on a role who petrol sniff and he also seems to be the lost soul who.
In this superb film the lead roles of samson and delilah are played by first times actors rowan mcnamara and marissa gibson who must have been in their teens when they acted in the film and they gave very convincing performances that shows the bleak lives of some australians, whilst at the same times showing a very sweet love story. We sense, in the languid, primeval pulp at the films center, dramatic inspiration both. Samson appears sweet on delilah, a feeling he expresses cavemanishly by chucking a rock at her. Samson, a cheeky 15yearold boy, and delilah live in an isolated aboriginal community in the central australian desert. The first feature film from writer and director warwick thornton, samson and delilah was an official selection at the 2009 cannes film festival. Day in and day out nothing changes, everything stays the same and no one seems to care. Samson and delilah, directed by warwick thornton, is film that focuses on the love between two teenagers in the australian desserts of alicia springs.
Samson and delilah s world is small an isolated community in the central australian desert. Samson and delilah is a 2009 australian drama film directed by warwick thornton and starring rowan mcnamara and marissa gibson, both young first time actors. Sensitive film about a tragic love affair in australias aboriginal community. Harrowing and deeply affecting, thornton doesnt hold back in laying bare the brutal realities of the cultural divide still evident in australia, as we watch the eponymous aboriginal couple trying to navigate a harsh and unforgiving world. Samson and delilah captures the untold story of the breathtaking yet shocking love between two isolated aboriginal teenagers. The film had its world premiere at the melbourne international film festival in july.
Aboriginal teenagers samson and delilah live in an isolated community outside alice springs, about 1,500 kms south of darwin. Samson and delilahs world is small an isolated community in the central australian desert. Samson in particular has an almost wary look painted on his face. Thats why the silent courtship between samson and delilah is the most satisfying part of the film. Warwicks writings samson and delilah the samson and. Apr 01, 2010 sensitive film about a tragic love affair in australias aboriginal community. Director warwick thorntons first feature, about a pair of outcast aboriginal kids who flee from their tiny central australian community. It depicts the biblical story of samson, a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair, and his love for delilah, the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret, and then betrays him to the philistines. Samsons brother verandah band as matthew mg gibson.
When tragedy strikes they turn their backs on home and. Samson comprises onehalf of the obliquely bibilical titular dyad in warwick thorntons hypnotic debut samson and delilah, and under his vacant, heatstroked gaze the films potential social resonance becomes una corda to the point of poetic confusion. Mar 09, 2018 samson and delilah 2009 samson and delilah is the film that put director warwick thornton on the map. Billed as a love story, thorntons first fulllength. Of all the films from across the world shown at the vibrant 11day event, it was voted the best. Mar 20, 2010 samson comprises onehalf of the obliquely bibilical titular dyad in warwick thorntons hypnotic debut samson and delilah, and under his vacant, heatstroked gaze the films potential social resonance becomes una corda to the point of poetic confusion. After a century of white filmmakers controlling often by default the cinematic presentation of aboriginal culture, therese davis wonders whether samson and delilah marks the start of a new era. Love and social marginality in samson and delilah senses of. Mcnamara samson and gibson delilah were greeted with a deserved and thunderous standing.
However, looking at the film in a postapology context, a dual symbolism can be asserted. Is there a documentary about the making of the film. Samson bludgeons his right mind with whatever he can get his hands on, typically decanting the petrol from car tanks and bathing his senses in the noxious fumes. Fifteen yearold samson lives with delilah in an aboriginal community in the outback. This odd, unnerving movie from australia, written and directed by warwick thornton, tells of two aboriginal teenagers in the. Sep 14, 2010 samson and delilah, directed by warwick thornton, is film that focuses on the love between two teenagers in the australian desserts of alicia springs. Love and social marginality in samson and delilah senses. Warwick thorntons film samson and delilah, about a petrolsniffing boy, tells us much about the inability of aboriginal people to make themselves understood by whitefellas. If the city scenes feel blunt, that isnt to say they arent authentic just that thornton is at his strongest exploring the amorphous rhythms of aboriginal life. Both samson and delilah acknowledge the phone as it rings, but both ignore it. Brutal and brilliant, poignant and profound, its one of our finest and most painful portraits of aboriginal. Plaudits are coming thick and fast for samson and delilah, the debut feature from indigenous filmmaker warwick thornton.
Warwick thorntons samson and delilah has captured the worlds imagination in a way no aboriginal film has done before. Samson is a mute boy living in a rundown shelter with his brothers. Samson and delilah had its world premiere at the vibrant adelaide film festival in february. With rowan mcnamara, marissa gibson, mitjili napanangka gibson, scott thornton. Oct 15, 2010 the film went on to win the awards for best new director and best film at the australian film institute awards. May 14, 2009 samson and delilah is a confronting and deeply humane film about two teenagers from a remote aboriginal settlement in central australia. His debut feature film samson and delilah won the camera dor at the 2009 cannes film festival and the award for best film at the asia pacific screen awards. Samson and delilah live in an isolated world a remote aboriginal community in the australian desert.
Music from the film original soundtrack on allmusic 2009. Feb 26, 2014 samson and delilah had its world premiere at the vibrant adelaide film festival in february. A gluesniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the governmentcontrolled nohope aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, alice springs, looking for a. Samson does not appear to have a family or any means of support, while delilah lives with an elderly grandmother who creates aboriginal folk art that is sold for great sums in metropolitan galleries but the nasty ol white guys that run the art racket only. Delilah marissa gibson is wrongly accused by the aunties of the town of neglecting her nana and is beaten.
The film deals with a variety of emotions such as grief, love, pain, hope and frustration but all to do with things that have occurred in the aboriginal society that samson and delilah have lived in for example, when they walk into a supermarket they are being suspiciously followed around by the security guard, and when delilah is in the church. These aboriginal people of australia are classed not even as people let alone people who are allowed to display signs of true. Samson and delilah, both adolescents, are part of the australian aboriginal culture. This first part of the film shows conditions in the town, some poor and dingy, some mod cons and some music and painting and a lot of boredom. We sense, in the languid, primeval pulp at the films center, dramatic inspiration both ecological and humanitarian. Samson appears sweet on delilah, a feeling he expresses cavemanishly by chucking a. Find where to watch samson and delilah 2009 in new zealand. Described as a survival love story by the director, the film depicts two indigenous australian 14yearolds living in a remote aboriginal. Two teenage aborigines seek escape in australia the new. Samson is an aimless drifter living in an aboriginal community in central australia. Warwick thornton is an australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Samson and delilah is proof that indigenous cinema is not only important but that it can also be successful on a global scale. Rowan mcnamara, marissa gibson, mitjili gibson, scott thornton.
Samson, delilah have a very unusual relationship and their love is strong but understated and it develops as their trust develops. Her controlled character clashes well with samsons erratic personality as the two slowly unite in their purpose to escape their mundane existence. Warwick thorntons samson and delilah is an unnerving and brutal portrayal of a rural australian reality. Samson and delilah is much more than an adolescent romance. What a petrolsniffing aboriginal boy tells us about. Analysis of the film samson and delilah 844 words bartleby. The film went on to win the awards for best new director and best film at the australian film institute awards.
Samson and delilah 2009 samson and delilah is the film that put director warwick thornton on the map. Samson and delilah was released in australian cinemas on 7 may 2009. Samson and delilah is a confronting and deeply humane film about two teenagers from a remote aboriginal settlement in central australia. Even with mild reservations about the ending, samson and delilah is a wellfilmed and heartbreaking love story that also has much to say about the tragic state of the aboriginal population in.