Seriously Funny: History and Humour in 'The Sapphires' and Other Indigenous Comedies

Article sample:

The Sapphires (Wayne Blair, 2012) opens in an idyllic rural setting. A group of young Aboriginal girls run home across the paddocks in the fading evening light to sing for a gathering of family and friends. But this benign atmosphere rapidly switches to terror as white Australian Government officials arrive on the scene and forcibly remove one of the girls from the Cummeraganja Mission community. It is the late 1960s, and State and Federal Government 'child protection' policies allow the removal of so-called 'half-caste' Aboriginal children from their families, leaving a devastating and traumatic legacy that the film goes on to address.

In these opening scenes, director Blair – making his feature film debut – establishes the lively mix of broadly elaborated history, appealing visuals and musical choices, humour and pathos that distinguish the film throughout. An adaptation of Tony Briggs' successful musical theatre production of the same name, Briggs and co-writer Keith Thompson have tweaked some details for the screen version but the fundamentals of the story – drawing on Briggs' mother's own experiences – remain in place.

About Senses of Cinema:

Senses of Cinema is an online journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema. We believe cinema is an art that can take many forms, from the industrially-produced blockbuster to the hand-crafted experimental work; we also aim to encourage awareness of the histories of such diverse forms. As an Australian-based journal, we have a special commitment to the regular, wide-ranging analysis and critique of Australian cinema, past and present. Senses of Cinema is primarily concerned with ideas about particular films or bodies of work, but also with the regimes (ideological, economic and so forth) under which films are produced and viewed, and with the more abstract theoretical and philosophical issues raised by film study.