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The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

Fred Schepisi | Australia 1978 | 122/108 min

This drama is a shocking indictment of the racism inflicted on the indigenous people of Australia.

Jimmie is a half-white, half-Indigenous young man raised by a Methodist minister. Feeling outcast among the Aboriginal people, Jimmie moves to the city and gets a job working for a white family.

When a white serving girl at the estate becomes pregnant, everyone is convinced that Jimmie is the father; to spare the girl's honor, Jimmie marries her and is allowed to live with her on the estate.

But after the child is born, everyone realizes that the father was a white man, not Jimmie; he is still willing to accept the child and stand beside his wife, but his employers now feel that he married a white girl under false pretenses, and they bar him from the estate.

Forbidden to see his wife and fired without receiving his pay, Jimmie finally explodes in a fury of violent revenge. (Mark Deming, All Movie Guide)

Cast
Tommy Lewis
Freddy Reynolds
Angela Punch-McGregor
Ray Barrett
Steve Dodds
Jack Thompson
Julie Dawson
Tim Robertson
Jane Harders
Peter Carroll
Robyn Nevin
Don Crosby
Rose Lilley
Katie Lilley
Peter Sumner
Ray Meagher
Brian Anderson
Rob Steele
Thomas Keneally
Bryan Brown
Jimmie Blacksmith
Mort
Gilda
Constable Farrell
Tabidgi
Rev. Neville
Mrs. Neville
Healy
Mrs. Healy
McCready
Mrs. McCready
Mr. Newby
Jane Newby
Vera Newby
Dowie Stead
Dud Edmonds
Hyberry
Claude Lewis
Cook
Kelly
Release dates 1978 - Australia
Video/DVD Release Date May 16th, 1994 (** very rare **)
Awards Best Actress (Angela Punch McGregor), Best Supporting Actor (Ray Barrett), Best Original Music Score (1978 20th Australian Film Awards)
Rating R - objectionable for children
Language level not available
Distributor New Yorker Films, Hoyts Distribution
Soundtrack Bruce Smeaton
Genre Drama
Notes
  • Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally (1972), which was in turn inspired by actual events.
  • Director Fred Schepisi's original cut of this film runs 122 minutes, though it was more widely distributed in a shortened version running 108 minutes.
  • Details and the first paragraph of the novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
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The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith soundtrack

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith CD cover
SP The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith soundtrack (1978)
Tracks
  1. The Chant Of Jimmy Blacksmith (side A)
  2. Gilda (side B)

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