Starring: Robert Carlyle, David Ngoombujarra, Charles Dance, Kerry Fox, Colin Friels, Ben Mendelsohn
Director: Craig Lahiff
Rated: M15+
IN the late 1950s Rupert Max Stuart (David Ngoombujarra), an itinerant Aboriginal man, is accused of raping and murdering a young girl in rural South Australia.
David O’Sullivan (Robert Carlyle), a down-on-his-luck Adelaide lawyer, is sent to Ceduna to defend him. Against the advice of his partner Helen Devaney (Kerry Fox), O’Sullivan invests himself in the case and, through the intervention of a local Catholic priest (Colin Friels), he starts to notice glaring discrepancies in the coroner’s report and police procedures, and cultural inconsistencies.
Nonetheless, Stuart is committed to stand trial and is prosecuted by Roderic Chamberlain (Charles Dance). The longer the trial goes on the more convinced O’Sullivan is that Stuart is innocent and should not hang for the crime.
A young Rupert Murdoch (Ben Mendelsohn), proprietor of the revamped The News, enters the fray. While O’Sullivan goes to the Privy Council in London, Murdoch takes up the case in the court of public opinion.
It’s tough writing a legal drama. Louis Nowra’s script in Black and White falls into the trap of being overly preachy and director Craig Lahiff is hard pressed to get some drama into several courtroom scenes. Geoffrey Simpson’s pictures are terrific, but the action seems to lag at several spots.
Overall, however, the performances are moving with O’Sullivan, Chamberlain and Fr Nolan being characterised as more than storybook cut-outs.
This tragic story changed legal history in Australia. It is not a David and Goliath story. It’s more real than that, but it is a timely reminder of the way we were just a generation ago.
Black and White is the last in a string of recent films which focus on injustices done to black Australians. This year alone we have had Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Tracker, Beneath the Clouds and Australian Rules.
