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Movies / On DVD / Rabbit-Proof Fence
Rabbit-Proof Fence

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Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

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Reviews Counted:133

Fresh:116

Rotten:17

Average Rating:7.6/10

Consensus: Visually beautiful and well-acted, Rabbit-Proof Fence tells a compelling true-life story.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for emotional thematic material

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 29, 2002 Limited

Box Office: $6,031,193

Synopsis: Set in Australia in 1931, RABBIT-PROOF FENCE tells the story of a government policy that required "half-caste" children (whose mothers were Aboriginal and whose fathers were white) to be taken from... Set in Australia in 1931, RABBIT-PROOF FENCE tells the story of a government policy that required "half-caste" children (whose mothers were Aboriginal and whose fathers were white) to be taken from their homes by the authorities to be trained to work as servants. Based on the true story of Molly Craig, Philip Noyce's film of small gestures and few words follows the odyssey of three young girls who escaped from the government's training facility and, using the country's long stretches of rabbit-proof fences as their guide, walked 1500 miles to get back home. Told squarely from Molly's point of view, RABBIT-PROOF FENCE also highlights the Australian government's treatment of Aboriginies by A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), the legal guardian of the country's indigenous people. His plan to "breed out" the Aboriginal blood of the half-castes is marked by a cool calculation and moral blindness that stands out in sharp contrast to Molly's spiritual and intuitive relationship to the people and places she encounters on her journey. [More]

Starring: Ningali Lawford, David Gulpilil, Jason Clarke, Deborah Mailman

Starring: Ningali Lawford, David Gulpilil, Jason Clarke, Deborah Mailman, Kenneth Branagh

Director: Phillip Noyce

Director: Phillip Noyce
Screenwriter: Christine Olsen
Producer: Phillip Noyce, Christine Olsen, John Winter
Composer: Peter Gabriel
Studio: Miramax Films

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Release:

Apr 15, 2003

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Rabbit-Proof Fence
  • RABBIT-PROOF Fence -- featuring the Golden Globe-nominated score by Peter Gabriel -? is a powerful true story of hope and survival and has been met with international acclaim! At a time when it was Australian government policy to train aboriginal children as domestic workers and integrate them into white society, young Molly Craig decides to lead her little sister and cousin in a daring escape from their internment camp. Molly and the girls, part of what would become known as Australia's "Stolen Generations," must then elude the authorities on a dangerous 1,500-mile adventure along the rabbit-proof fence that bisects the continent and will lead them home. As shown by this outstanding motion picture, their universally touching plight and unparalleled courage are a beautiful testament to the undying strength of the human spirit!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Rabbit-Proof Fence

    • T-Meter Critics
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    81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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    Nearly everything about Rabbit-Proof Fence is astonishing.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Jonathan Curiel
    Jonathan Curiel
    San Francisco Chronicle

    Noyce has found remarkable newcomers to play the children, particularly Everlyn Sampi.

    Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Jack Garner
    Jack Garner
    Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

    An amazing story, amazingly told.

    Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Steven Rea
    Steven Rea
    Philadelphia Inquirer

    The viewer takes great pleasure in watching the resourceful Molly stay a step ahead of her pursuers.

    Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Gary Thompson
    Gary Thompson
    Philadelphia Daily News

    A haunting and heartbreaking minimalist tale.

    Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Robert W. Butler
    Robert W. Butler
    Kansas City Star

    Noyce has worked wonders with the material.

    Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Glenn Lovell
    Glenn Lovell
    San Jose Mercury News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This journey, which evokes some of the same mystery of the outback evoked in many other Australian films (notably Walkabout), is beautiful, harrowing and sometimes heartbreaking.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It would be easy, but wrong, to attribute the story's shock value to dramatic license

    Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Marty Mapes
    Marty Mapes
    Movie Habit

    Its portrait of a corrosive national policy of racial superiority is as much a window as it is a mirror and is unsettling in a too-familiar way.

    Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
    12/25/02
    Duane Dudek
    Duane Dudek
    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    Somewhat stolid pacing keeps the film from fulfilling its potential, but it is always touching, if tough to watch.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
    12/24/02
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    Noyce creates a film of near-hypnotic physical beauty even as he tells a story as horrifying as any in the heart-breakingly extensive annals of white-on-black racism.

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    12/24/02
    Susan Stark
    Susan Stark
    Detroit News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This is a heartfelt story ... it just isn't a very involving one.

    Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
    12/24/02
    Terry Lawson
    Terry Lawson
    Detroit Free Press
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Rabbit-Proof Fence will probably make you angry. But it will just as likely make you weep, and it will do so in a way that doesn't make you feel like a sucker.

    Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
    12/24/02
    Chris Vognar
    Chris Vognar
    Dallas Morning News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A rare and complete triumph.

    Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
    12/24/02
    Eugene Novikov
    Eugene Novikov
    Film Blather

    All of Rabbit-Proof Fence's characters are so well-drawn, so human -- that even in the harsh light of history -- it remains difficult to understand how Australia allowed such inhumanity to become institutional, mechanized and accepted.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    12/24/02
    Robert K. Elder
    Robert K. Elder
    Chicago Tribune
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    12/23/02
    Boston Phoenix

    This film is about longing, a tribal longing. Ultimately, the tribe in question is mankind.

    Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
    12/23/02
    Stanley Kauffmann
    Stanley Kauffmann
    New Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Noyce utilizes simple, stylish camerawork and spare dialogue to delivery pregnantly poignant anguish.

    Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
    12/22/02
    Jeanne Aufmuth
    Jeanne Aufmuth
    Palo Alto Weekly

    An unforgettable story [told] in perfect filmic terms

    Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
    12/19/02
    Arthur Lazere
    Arthur Lazere
    culturevulture.net

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
    12/18/02
    Susan Granger
    Susan Granger
    www.susangranger.com
     
     
    81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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    Latest News for Rabbit-Proof Fence

    April 29, 2008: Philip Noyce Learning The Art of Making Money Opens in new window
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