Set in Western Australia, 1931. The Rabbit-Proof Fence is produced by Phillip Noyce and is based on a true story. The government introduces a new policy that involves taking half-caste children and relocating them far, far away and training them, giving them the skills they will need in later life to work for the white man. The film follows three young girls – Molly, daisy and grace. These girls were captured and taken to the Moore River settlement, where they would be prepared for training. Molly, the oldest out of the three has other plans and using her knowledge of the wilderness, the girls eventually escape. The young aboriginals are tested both physically and mentally as they walk for days on end with a goal to finally reach home; jigalong. But along their way, they will face the major challenge of eluding a skilled, native tracker that’s hot on their tail.

The person I found to be most interesting was the oldest of the three, Molly. While watching this story i discovered Molly to be clever, proud and above all strong. From escaping Moore river in the searing heat to surviving the cold desert nights, she overcame every challenge that was thrown at her. On top of this, she had two younger children relying on her to get them home safely. I found this really inspirational, as no matter what kind of difficulties and painful situations molly was put through, she had to dig deep and find her inner strength in order to have the best outcome.

To me, i believe the message within the film is to never give up. Throughout the story, Molly clearly demonstrates her leadership attributes and her resilience in situations where most teens would crumble under pressure. Some examples of this are where the three children are taken from their native village and relocated to the Moore River settlement where other young aboriginals just like them had given up and agreed to live a life integrated into a white society. Molly tried to escape countless times before her plan finally worked; releasing herself and the two younger siblings while giving assurance by saying “We’re going home, to Mother”. For me, this exercises the quote from Wayne Dyer – “If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles”. Molly maintained her positive attitude throughout the film, she would do all she could to get out and her persistence was then rewarded with an opportunity, which she then took unlike the other young children in the settlement.

Molly was thrown into crucial situations where her little sister and cousins safety was paramount – from surviving starvation, dehydration, fleeing from the tracker based in the Moore River settlement and the main challenge being their 2400 kilometre trek across the Australian outback. A special moment for me was when Molly, Daisy and Gracie finally located the rabbit-proof fence. One by one they begin to grab hold of the fence when suddenly we are taken back to Jigalong, and shown the family’s point of view, where their mother and grandmother are also holding the fence. The spiritual idea which is expressed in parts of the film is finally shown. The girls and mother are telepathically communicating, this is a major aspect within the aboriginal culture and i believe this is one of the main reason that drove them to get home and helped them overcome all challenges.

The movie directed by Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce is inspired by the true, heartbreaking story that took place in 1931 where three Aboriginal girls were abducted from their families by Australian authorities as part of official government policy. The film won Best Picture at the Australian Film Awards. I think what drove Noyce to make a good historical/drama movie was his interest in the country’s culture and history. His mindset was to recreate the events that took place in this time with “pinpoint accuracy”. From the clips of Molly Gloag describing the sequence of events and how they occurred I believe Phillip Noyce succeeded with his goal of recreating the significant events within this time in Australian history.

Personally, I would recommend this film to teens above the age of 14, because usually around this age the majority of the viewers have had to deal with stress and difficult times. Therefore allowing them to relate the characters to themselves and have a better understanding of what is happening in the film. This is what made the film such a good experience for me and also the history behind the story.