Jedda (1955)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Jedda (1955) – C. Chauvel

The first colour film in Australia is dazzling to look at but very problematic in content.  Jedda is a young aboriginal girl whose mother died in childbirth leading her to be adopted by a white woman who had recently lost her own infant. This situation puts Jedda into a similar predicament to those indigenous children who were part of the “stolen generations” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations), children who were forcibly removed from their families and raised by whites, possibly in order to assimilate the oldest culture on Earth into the invading Western one. On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised for the Australian government’s role in removing indigenous children from their families and placing them with white families. The effects of their removal on these indigenous people have been drastic:  loss of culture and identity resulting in alienation from both indigenous and white cultures.  There are a number of contentious beliefs on display in the film:  1) the white mother believes that she is “civilizing” Jedda and must protect her from contact with her tribe; 2) the white father believes that indigenous peoples have their own ways and they need to be allowed to live according to their own customs but he implies that they are more animalistic (the filmmakers seem to share these views); 3) the half-caste boy, also raised by the whites, who becomes the head of the jackaroos is seen as a more suitable romantic partner for Jedda than any of the members of her own tribe. As she grows up, Jedda is shown to be fascinated by the indigenous culture around her and aching to take part in the corroboree and to go on walkabout but she is always prevented.  When a rebellious young aborigine from another tribe shows up and shows an interest in Jedda, the attraction seems mutual and sexual tension is aroused.  However, against her will, this young man (fleeing from a prison sentence, it turns out) kidnaps her and heads off into the bush, dragging her along.  Their flight (across amazing terrain) takes up the latter half of the film and ends in doom.