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.
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
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The film opens with a scene in which Molly Johnson (Leah Purcell), 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 (Sam Reid), turns up with his sickly wife, Louisa (Jessica De Gouw). They ask 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 taking her children to the settlement for safekeeping while her new baby is born, and so that Danny, the eldest son, can get more supplies.
Meanwhile, the wife and children of the area's founding family are found dead, and an Aboriginal (Ngarigo) man called Yadaka (Rob Collins) is blamed and is a wanted man. After Molly returns from a walk, she finds Yadaka face down in the yard. She has contractions, signaling 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 focus their efforts on finding Yadaka, they ask the townspeople if they have seen him. During the investigation, they become increasingly suspicious of Molly's husband Joe Johnson's disappearance when his horse has been left to a hitch and learning he didn't turn up for the drove.
The judge welcomes Nate into the town and says if he makes to Sunday he will swear him in. When a fight breaks out, Nate stops the fight and is cheered on. At the station, two drovers, Robert Parsens (Tony Cogin) and John McPharlen (Trevor Greenwood), are released from lockup and reveal that Joe had never missed a drove in 8 years. Klintoff sends Trooper Leslie to investigate Molly's homestead, 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 Robert and John, who have come to investigate Joe's disappearanece. Robert punches Yadaka in the face after Robert spots that he is wearing Joe's boots. Molly tries to defend Yadaka and says that he was doing work for her and as payment she gave him Joe's boots. Robert doesn't believe her, saying he overhead Molly talking with Yadaka and says that Molly killed Joe and doesn't know why. As Molly tries to protect herself she is assaulted, and Yadaka is tied up, whilst Danny watches from afar. Molly later wakes in the night to find Danny had dragged her into the house, and Yadaka dead at the drovers' hands. She tries to lie to Danny that his father died while on drove, but Danny knows the whole truth - he watched her shoot his father after he assaulted her in a drunken rage. Molly asks Danny where his siblings are and he says that they are still in town with the McGuiness' and that Miss Shirley has said that the kids are safer with her then Molly. Molly rides into town and ties up the McGuiness', burning the court order. She retrieves her children, telling the McGuiness' that her kids belong with her.
Klintoff tells Louisa that he is becoming increasingly suspicious of Molly, as he tells her that when they arrived at her homestead he could smell something sweet and says that the smell was something he was familiar with in the war. Louisa, a women's rights activist, adds that Danny's question about Klintoff's war wound being from Klintoff's father was a red flag. They deduce that Molly had killed her abusive husband.
Molly and her children try to run to the safety of the mountains, where Yadaka had told her about a safe place the Ngarigo frequent. She is stopped by one of the same drovers who assaulted her, and thinking of her children, Molly tells Danny to leave. While Danny leaves with the other children, John hits Molly and tries to rape her again, but Molly stabs him and he dies as Klintoff arrives on scene. Molly is arrested, and refuses to reveal where her children are, simply saying "they're with family". While in lockup, she tells her story to Louisa.
Molly is sentenced to death by hanging. As she is taken to the tree, Louisa and several women from the suffrage movement see her in her final moments just before she dies. Meanwhile, Molly's children make it to the safety of the mountains.
As the story ends, we see the article Louisa was writing when she spoke with Molly before her death. The article is titled "The Drover's Wife - Molly Johnson's Story." The article is in a frame on a piece of furniture in Johnson's house. Outside the house, on the front porch, the adult Danny retells to his family the story that Yadaka had taught him years earlier.
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]
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]
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