Film review: Samson and Delilah

DOWN AND OUTBACK: Life can be listless for Delilah (Marissa Gibson) and Samson (Rowan McNamara) in northern Australia.

OPINION: Don't be put off by what sounds like a grim and dark story line.

Samson and Delilah was the standout drama from this year's film festival, and I'm absolutely stoked to see it come back on general release. The film, a first feature from Australian documentary maker and cinematographer Warwick Thornton, picked up the Camera d'or prize at this year's Cannes film festival.

Samson and Delilah is set in and around a hard-bitten aboriginal community in northern Australia. Days pass in a torpor of listless conversation, bad music, and solvent abuse. Samson (Rowan McNamara) is a teenage boy with seemingly nothing to look forward to in life. Delilah (Marissa Gibson) has more self-reliance and ambition, but she is committed to nursing and caring for her aging grandmother. A series of seemingly disconnected events lead to the two kids eloping to Alice Springs in a stolen four-wheel drive. And there, the realities of being young, listless, and black in the shopping malls and cafes of white Australia are enough to throw our two young protagonists into a very modern sort of hell.

Don't be put off by what sounds like a grim and dark story line. This is a terrific film. Samson and Delilah is potent stuff - a simple, powerful and engrossing drama that finds room for real humour, whimsy, and a romance more affecting and credible than anything Hollywood could ever dream of. This is one of those special films that makes my job an absolute pleasure. Go and see it. You won't regret it.

Samson and Delilah
Rated: M
Runtime: 97 mins
Director: Warwick Thornton.
Stars: Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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