The Drover's Wife (film)

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The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson
Drovers wife the legend of molly johnson.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Leah Purcell
Screenplay byLeah Purcell
Produced by
  • Bain Stewart
  • David Jowsey
  • Angela Littlejohn
  • Greer Simpkin
  • Leah Purcell
Starring
CinematographyMark Wareham
Edited by Dany Cooper
Music bySalliana Seven Campbell
Production
companies
  • Oombarra Productions
  • Bunya Productions
Distributed by Roadshow Films
Release dates
  • 18 March 2021 (2021-03-18)(SXSW)
  • 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05)(Australia)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7.2 million [1]

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, or simply The Drover's Wife, is a 2021 Australian revisionist Western film directed, written, and co-produced by Leah Purcell in her feature directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Purcell's 2016 play and a reimagining of Henry Lawson's 1892 short story. The film stars Purcell, Rob Collins, Sam Reid, and Jessica De Gouw. It tells the story of a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of a life in 1893 in the Snowy Mountains.

Contents

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on 18 March 2021, and was released in Australia on 5 May 2022, by Roadshow Films. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Purcell's direction and screenplay, as well as the performances of the cast (particularly those of Purcell, Collins, and De Gouw). It garnered thirteen nominations, including Best Film, at the 12th AACTA Awards, with Purcell winning Best Lead Actress.

Plot

The film opens with a scene in which Molly Johnson, heavily pregnant, shoots a stray bull which has wandered near her home, after ensuring that her four children are safe.

Shortly afterwards the new sergeant of the district, Sergeant Klintoff, turns up with his sickly wife, Louisa, asking if they could share some of the meat that they smelt cooking, as they had lost all of their provisions when crossing the river. She gives them food in exchange for their taking her children to the settlement for safekeeping while her new baby is born. Molly asks the Klintoffs to take her children with them into town so that Danny, the eldest son, can get more supplies.

Meanwhile, a wife and children of the area's founding family and an Aboriginal man called Yadaka is blamed and is a wanted man. After Molly returns from a walk, finds Yadaka face down in the yard, as she has contractions, signalling the impending birth of her baby. Yadaka begins to attack Molly, but stops and helps her when her waters break instead. The baby does not survive, and Yadaka assists in burying it.

As the police become increasingly suspicious of Joe Johnson's disappearance and learning that he had never missed a drove until that year. Klintoff sends Trooper Leslie to investigate the homestead where Molly is and during a confrontation, Leslie is shot and killed after he says that Molly is to be questioned over Joe's disappearance.

Molly refuses to answer for why Joe has disappeared but later reveals to Yadaka that she killed him. Later that night Molly is attacked by Joe's drover friends with one of them deducing that she killed him, Molly tries to defender herself and Yadaka but he is violently assaulted when the two drovers overhear the truth, Molly is assaulted and later wakes in the night to find her son Danny had dragged her into the house and Molly tries to lie to Danny that his father died while on drove, but Danny knows the whole truth, he watched her shoot his father.

Molly tries to run to the safety of the mountains but when riding she is stopped by one of the same drivers who assaulted her, thinking of her children, Molly tells Danny to leave and when he does Molly is hit and the driver tries to rape her again but Molly stabs him as Nate arrives on scene.

As Molly is arrested and while in lockup she tells her story to Louisa who asks where her children are and had it always been so violent, Molly tells her story as Louisa listens.

Mollyis sentenced to death by hanging as she is taken to the tree Louisa and several women see her in her final moments just before she dies, her kids make it to the safety of the mountains.

As the story ends with an adult Danny retelling the story that Yadaka taught him years earlier.

Cast

Origin

The plot is a reworking of Henry Lawson's 1892 short story The Drover's Wife , but deviates significantly from the original story as developed in Purcell's earlier award-winning play and novel of the same name. It tells the story of a woman living with her children in an isolated location in the High Country in the colony of New South Wales near the border of the colony of Victoria. [2]

Purcell reimagines Lawson's story through an Indigenous feminist lens, inspired by her own lived experience and the stories of her ancestors. [3] The character of Yadaka was inspired by Purcell's great-grandfather, Tippo Charlie Chambers. [2]

Production

The story is set in the Snowy Mountains and much of the filming was done there, mostly around Adaminaby. Cinematography was by Mark Wareham. [2]

It is Purcell's debut film as director and writer. It is the first Australian feature film to be written and directed by an Indigenous woman who also stars in the lead role. [3] Her husband, Bain Stewart, is lead producer and executive producer on the film. [4]

The original soundtrack is by Salliana Seven Campbell. [5]

Release

After being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, [4] the film had its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) on 18 March 2021. [6] It also screened at the Warsaw International Film Festival, [7] Cinefest Oz, the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Brisbane International Film Festival [8] and the 68th Sydney Film Festival [9] before being released in Australia on 5 May 2022 [10] and in the United Kingdom on 13 May 2022. [11]

International sales were handled by Memento Films International. [12] In March 2021, it was announced that Samuel Goldwyn Films had acquired North American distribution rights to the film. [13] It was released in the United States on 19 August 2022. [14]

Reception

The film opened to generally positive reviews. The acting, cinematography and Salliana Seven Campbell's score were praised by several critics. [5] [15] [16] [17] [18] [9] [11]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 80% of 61 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10.The website's consensus reads: "The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson occasionally struggles to cohere, but writer-director-star Leah Purcell offers a unique, compelling perspective on historic myths." [19]

Accolades

At the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, The Drover's Wife won the Jury Grand Prix and Purcell was nominated for the Best Actress award. [7]

In won the Jury Grand Prix, Best feature film, at the 2022 Rencontres internationales du cinéma des Antipodes (Antipodean Film Festival). [20]

The film was also a nominee for the following awards: [7]

Awards

AwardCategorySubjectResult
AACTA Awards
(12th) [21]
Best Film Bain Stewart, David Jowsey, Angela Littlejohn, Greer Simpkin, Leah Purcell Nominated
Best Direction Leah PurcellNominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Best Actor Rob Collins Nominated
Best Actress Leah PurcellWon
Best Supporting Actor Malachi Dower-RobertsNominated
Best Supporting Actress Jessica De Gouw Nominated
Best Cinematography Mark WarehamNominated
Best Costume Design Tess ScofieldNominated
Best Production Design Sam HobbsNominated
Best Original Score Salliana Seven CampbellNominated
Best Sound Liam Egan, Nick Emond, Leah Katz, Robert Sullivan, Tom Heuzenroeder, Les FiddessNominated
Best Hair and Makeup Beth Halsted, Simon Joseph, Jennifer LampheeNominated
APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards
( 2022 ) [22] [23]
Feature Film Score of the YearSallianna Seven CampbellWon

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References

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  11. 1 2 "The Drover's Wife review — an Australian period drama of widescreen confidence" . Financial Times . 12 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  12. Keslassy, Elsa (20 February 2020). "Memento Films Intl. Boards Leah Purcell's Aussie Revenge Tale 'The Drover's Wife' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  13. Keslassy, Elsa (10 March 2021). "Leah Purcell's SXSW-Bound 'The Drover's Wife' Acquired by Samuel Goldwyn For North America (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  14. "THE DROVER'S WIFE THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON" (PDF) (Press release). Samuel Goldwyn Films . Retrieved 22 December 2023.
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  19. The Drover's Wife at Rotten Tomatoes
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Further reading