Ten Canoes
Tags: comedy, violence, revenge, murder, storytelling

Plot synopsis:
The film is set in Arnhem Land, in a time before Western contact, and tells the story of a group of ten men hunting goose eggs. The leader of the group, Minygululu, tells the young Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil) a story about another young man even further back in time who, like Dayindi, coveted his elder brother's youngest wife. The sequences featuring Dayindi and the hunt are in black and white, while shots set in distant past are in colour. All protagonists speak in indigenous languages of the Yolŋu Matha language group, with subtitles. The film is narrated in English by David Gulpilil, although versions of the film without narration, and featuring narration in Yolŋu Matha, are also available.
Minygululu tells a story of the great warrior Ridjimiraril, who suspects a visiting stranger of kidnapping his second wife. In a case of mistaken identity, Ridjimiraril kills a member of a neighbouring tribe. To prevent all-out war, tribal laws dictate that the offending tribe allow the offender to be speared from a distance by the tribe of the slain man. The offender is allowed to be accompanied by a companion, and he takes his younger brother. Whenever one of the two is hit, the spear-throwers will stop, and justice will have been served. Ridjimiraril is hit and mortally wounded but survives long enough to return to his camp, where he is tended to by his eldest wife. After he finally succumbs, the elder brother's kidnapped second wife finds her way back to the camp. She reveals that she had been kidnapped by a different tribe, much farther away and had taken this long to return. She mourns her lost husband, who had attacked the wrong tribe, though now she and the elder wife take his younger brother as their new husband. The younger brother, who was only interested in the youngest of the three wives, now has to care for all of them, and satisfying their many and constant demands is much more than he bargained for.
Minygululu tells this story in the hope that Dayindi learns of the added responsibilities of a husband and elder statesman in the tribe, and in the end we see Dayindi withdrawing from his pursuit of Minygululu's young wife.

Review: They are a part of an Aborigine's "dreaming" and come to life in the stories indigenous Australians have told through the ages.
Playfully narrated by Australian icon David Gulpilil, Ten Canoes, directed by Rolf de Heer (The Tracker) and Peter Djigirr, tells a dreaming story that acts as a lesson for a young man in the tribe who feels that the youngest wife of his older brother should be his.
The story has elements of kidnapping, sorcery, and revenge but is mostly about values: how a community living in a natural environment before the coming of the White man developed laws and systems to guide its people.
The cast consists of indigenous residents of the Arafura region and many of the visuals recreate the photographs of Donald Thompson, a Melbourne anthropology professor who spent time in the 1930s with the Yolngu people of the Arafura Swamp.Set a thousand years ago in central Arnhem Land near the Arafura Swamp in northern Australia, east of Darwin, a group of Ganalbingu tribesmen embark on a hunt for magpie geese, a wild bird used to sustain the tribe.
When he discovers that Dayindi (played by Gulpilil's son, Jamie) has a crush on his third wife, he tells him a story set in a mythical time after the great flood that explains how his people developed laws to govern their behavior, the same laws used by the tribes today.
To distinguish between the past and the "present", De Heer uses muted color to show the ancient landscape and black and white for the more modern story.In the beginning, Ridjimiraril (Crusoe Kurddal) lives with his three wives, Banalandju, Nowalingu (Frances Djulibing), and Munandjarra in a camp with others, including Birrinbirrin (Richard Birrinbirrin), an overweight elder whose sole pleasure in life is to eat honey.
Ridjimiraril's younger brother, Yeeralparil (Jamie), who lives in the single men's camp, fancies the beautiful Munandjarra and spends much time stealing visits to the other camp, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
Through myth and illuminating visuals, Ten Canoes generates a greater awareness and understanding of indigenous Australian culture and acts as an impressive counterweight to the argument that Aborigines should give up their past and join the modern world.
The film documents Aboriginal culture, history and humor in a way that I have never seen on-screen before.
This film extends the genre onto a higher plane.The narrator tells a story about men hunting for goose eggs in canoes while one tells a story from the ancient times.
(At least, it seemed that way to a white guy from Boston.) I don't know if any are actual actors.If you have interest in any aboriginal culture or anything Australian, you should see this movie.
Jacques Rousseau, on the other hand, in direct contradiction of Christian theology, was convinced that man had been born good, and that primitive man was indeed the "noble savage".Rolf de Heer, a maker of small, quirky and interesting films ("Bad Boy Bubby", "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", "The Tracker"), probably doesn't subscribe to either notion.
In this exquisitely photographed tale from the mythical past he lets the aboriginals of the Arafura wetlands, Arnhem Land, tell their own story.
Apart from the voice-over, all the dialogue is in the local aboriginal language (don't worry, there are sub-titles).While on a goose egg hunting trip, Older Brother , who has noticed his younger brother's interest in one of his wives, tells Younger Brother a story from a much earlier time, of another younger brother who yearned after his older brother's wife.
His language means little to us, but his expression everything.The scenes on the goose-hunt, which book-end the main story, are in black and white, a tribute to earlier photographers in Arnhem Land, but most of the film is in colour, which does full justice to the landscape.
He is a Dutch immigrant to Australia whose unique look at this country has now produced a superb library of films each different, that contribute to a fascinating movie spectrum of impressions of Australian life.
At this time in a new century we are now blessed with a sequence of Australian aboriginal themed films I encourage you to find and view in their production order: JEDDA directed by Charles Chauvel in 1956, WALKABOUT d: Nicolas Roeg in 1970, STORM BOY in 1976, THE LAST WAVE d: Peter Weir in 1977, RABBIT PROOF FENCE d; Phil Noyce in 2003, THE TRACKER d Roldf De Heer, and now TEN CANOES.
Even if you see TEN CANOES and find the journey into the Australian stone age initially difficult, you will be astonished at the visuals presented and in awe of the fact this was ever captured on film with such humor and accessible humanities..
"Ten Canoes" tells three stories: That of the storyteller himself, that the of hunt for geese and their eggs, and that of the ancestors -- especially their troubles and the consequences of their actions and relationship to the law.
Midway through the second story, which bookends the mythical one, that interior storyteller (Elder Brother) states that Younger Brother is beginning to learn a lesson from the telling itself -- patience.
Such patience is also required of the viewer, for the pace and structure of both the "today" story and the "mythical" have their an organic unfolding (metaphor: a growing tree) that is quite unlike that of most contemporary Hollywood movies, with their fast call to conflict and continuous conflict.I was struck by the transition of "today's" story from color to black and white as the mythical story is told, the showing of the mythical tale in color (which helped to separate it from the today story), and the dissolve to color in today time as the mythical telling ends.Water is the core of the story, as the river, the swamp, and rain are the images that open and close the movie.
This technique has the dual effect of allowing director Rolf de Heer to duplicate scenes from black and white photographs taken in the area by an anthropologist in the 1930s (photographs that motivated the making of this film), as well as helping the viewer keep the stories straight.The cast consists of a few dozen modern day aboriginals playing the parts in the two stories.
It would not be a stretch to recast these stories in a modern setting.The photography of the landscape is beautiful and sensuous; it contributes greatly to the stories by showing what an intimate relationship early peoples had with the land and its fauna.This movie helps us better appreciate where we came from and what we are..
Australia's 2007 Oscar entry is a wry gem of a film that translates our contemporary values schema into a morality play set a thousand years ago in an indigenous tribe settlement somewhere near the Arafura Swamp in Australia's Northern Territory.
Iconic Aborigine actor David Gulpilil (of "Walkabout" and "The Last Wave" fame) eloquently and drolly orates the film's triple narrative of native Australian lore that concerns itself with coveting, revenge, sorcery and even a dash of penis envy.
Possibly venturing to rail against critics of the noble savagery belonging to the Aborigines, "Ten Canoes" allow us the positive enlightenment that comes from observing a different and alien culture operate on levels familiar to us..
Yes, these scenarios, and the changing between colour and black and white, exposed the movie for what it was - a movie - but they took me back, in my mind, to a truly innocent time, when my mum could tell me a story and the scenarios played out so clearly in my head that I really did believe there was an ankle grabber under the bed.
The film looks great, and the narration with David Gulpilil is too important to miss, obviously, as I found it very difficult to keep up with the extremely complex set up/story.
When hearing a new language such as this it is important to hear things clearly - sadly the capacity of the Adelaide Festival to screen the film was lacking on this front.That said, the film is filled with compelling visuals not unlike one of the earlier films of de Heer, and it has some very quaint (albeit base) amusement wrapped into the story.Set a 1000 years ago before white fellas came to Australia, this is a dual story, one told in the immediate black and white/sepia world of reality, and one told in the rich color of the Aboriginal dream time...
both stories are pretty much the same, and the roles are played by the same actors in each, so there are points where it's easy to get a little confused by who is doing what and when - but over all this is what you'd call a worthy film - it has the look of an old documentary at times, and that's not a bad look.I enjoyed it despite the technological problems of this screening..
He is telling the story of the younger brother, who in reality, as an actor in this film, is his own son.
He plays his own ancestor in the story which his older brother tells him about a time very, very long before, when the people were different, yet acted the same and a younger brother coveted one of his older brother's wives.
I would highly recommend this film for those who are interested in Australian aboriginal culture, but also for just about anybody who wants to see a different movie.
As the narrator, the great David Gulpilil, says, it's a different story, but still a good one.
After a chuckle the narrator tells us he has no idea how it ends.Ostensibly, the story is told by the off-screen narrator, of a hunting party of aboriginal men, who make ten bark canoes and go hunting and gathering in the swamp.
The Tracker, Alexandra's Project, Bad Boy Bubby, The Old Man who Read Love Stories; these are some of the best films this country has ever produced and he does it here again with Ten Canoes.In the 1930's, Dr Donald Thompson, an anthropologist, lived and worked with the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in an effort to bridge cultural divisions.
It was the image of ten canoeists hunting for goose eggs in a swamp which inspired de Heer, and provides the setting for the black and white section of the film which stars David's son, Jamie.
There were many other cultural considerations that shaped the entire story and made this the most unique Australian film ever made.
Director Rolf de Heer was inspired by Dr. Donald Thomson who first captured the aboriginal group with an extensive group of photographs, especially one photo of ten men in bark canoes, hence the title.
The story or message could have been summarised in about three or four lines; the characters should have been rounded out more; the cinematography was little more than adequate and the narration by David Gulpilil--a long-time favourite of mine--lacked impact.
The elder corners him as he knows the young fella has his eyes on his youngest wife, and wants to tell him a story from the time of his ancestors that should put him off making a move.
It's always good to see a truly unique film come out of Australian cinema, and, once again, Netherlands-born Australian director Rolf de Heer proves that he's probably the most exciting filmmaker working in the local industry at present.
Along with first-time director Peter Djigirr, de Heer has produced an invaluable cultural document, telling a tale of Australian aboriginal life in the time long before Europeans ever arrived, which instantly sets it apart from most other works of Aborigine-related Australian cinema {such as 'Walkabout (1971)' and 'Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)'}.
'Ten Canoes (2006)' is also unusual in that it is the first to be filmed entirely in an Indigenous Aboriginal language {though David Gulpilil's narration is available in both English and the language Yolŋu Matha, I chose the latter for the sake of authenticity}.
}.The way in which the narrative of 'Ten Canoes' is structured is very clever, cutting between two time periods as though the narrator/storyteller (David Gulpilil) is simply passing on the ancestral history as his people have done for hundreds of generations and thousands of years.
This segment is told in a straightforward, documentary-like manner, as a wizened Aborigine leader finds out that his younger brother, Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil), covets the youngest of his three wives.
During a coming-of-age, goose-hunting trip, the older brother tells Dayindi a story to teach him the consequences of jealousy.
This story-within-a-story takes place years and years earlier still, not too long after the The Dreamtime, during which the patterns of life were laid down, and is presented to us in vibrant colour, making full use of the beautiful Northern Territory wilderness.This earlier tale recites the story of another young Aborigine, Yeeralparil (Jamie Gulpilil), who also desires the youngest of his older brother's three wives.
While the black-and-white segments of the film have the tone of a historical documentary, the colour narrative has the fantastical mysticism of an old Dreamtime story, particularly evident in the Makaratta ("spear-throwing") ritual, and the Death Dance.
"Ten Canoes" resembles a National Geographic documentary with dramatic overtones and is sometimes hard to follow due to the thick accent of the narrator but it's nevertheless absorbing due in part to its very oddness, being a story about aboriginal Australians (though written, directed and shot by a Caucasian team headed by director Rolf de Heer).
As a commercial film with a solid depiction of something from the multiplex cultures of Native Australian Aborigines, it is delightful to watch and fascinating to observe these people in the act of being themselves..
Ten Canoes (2006), directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, is the first movie I've seen that portrays only Australian Aboriginals.
The entire story is about Aboriginals, and no non-Aboriginals intrude.The film is set in pre-colonization Australia, with flashbacks to a far earlier time.
What is unique about this film is the manner in which the plot unfolds, and the glimpse it gives us into (presumably authentic) Australian Aboriginal culture.The film is definitely worth seeing, and will probably work well on DVD if it's not playing at a theater close to you.
The best film I've seen about the aboriginal culture of Australia.After watching this film for 10-15 minutes, the viewer either will be intrigued by the story, acting & cinematography or convinced that it's not to their liking.
If you enjoy cinematic art, you will be rewarded richly by De Heers' respectful portrayal of the indigenous people  their humor, hunting and gathering expeditions, and everyday life in the lands where they and their ancestors lived and died for centuries.The aboriginal cast speaking in the native language of Ganalbingu adds a degree of authenticity that few film makers ever capture and that enriches the viewing experience.
Ridjimiraril gets up and does the last death dance with music and songs being played all around him.There is a lesson that is passed on from centuries through such wonderful stories in the Aboriginal tribes of Australia that teaches people to differentiate from good and bad; and obviously it keeps the tradition alive.The narrator is the famous aboriginal scholar artist David Gulpilil.I was totally mesmerized by the movie.
The story is about the older generation teaching the younger generation some life lessons via the method of story telling, so the film ends with a not overtly stated "the moral of the story is" along the way you get to see some beautiful back country..
Which makes you wonder is there no advance checking of the print whatsoever or were we a test audience to see how the film would play without subtitles.I think most people found it fascinating because this was the first time ever to see an Australian aboriginal film story played out and the beautiful cinematography and ambient sound (and/or brilliant foley) and indigenous music on the soundtrack made it a magical experience regardless.Director Rolf de Heer gave very thorough and enthusiastic replies to audience questions at the Q & A afterwards after having only been in Toronto 2 hours from his flight from Australia.
It seemed that he could have told anecdotes for hours about it and overall I think he gave the most detailed replies that I have ever heard a director give at TIFF (and I've seen probably a few hundred films there over the years).Still, I wish we had gotten to know the jokes and the 50% or so of the story we missed.I'm giving this a 7/10 with the sense that it could easily be an 8 or 9 once I've seen a version that I can completely understand..
"Ten Canoes" does something different by telling a story set in Australia's aboriginal past, before the first white men arrived in the country.
All the actors are Aborigines, and the dialogue is in the language of the Ganalbingu tribe from what is today Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.The structure of the film is quite complex, and makes use of what is called in German "Rahmentechnik", or framework technique, the setting of a story within a story.
When Ridjimiraril is killed, Yeeralparil, as his younger brother, is obliged under tribal law to marry all three of his wives, not only the beautiful Munandjarra but also Nowalingu (who has returned to the tribe and, it turns out, was not kidnapped at all) and the third wife Banalandju, neither of whom he really fancies.The narrative structure of the film may be complicated, the underlying folk-tale-like story is a simple one.
For a country whose notion of Indigenous Aboriginal culture comes up to The Dreamtime and dot paintings, Ten Canoes might well serve as a lovely refresher course, never mind how Hollywood might react to it.