image of person or book cover 8585363712083796333.jpg
Screen cap from promotional trailer
form y separately published work icon We of the Never Never single work   film/TV  
Adaptation of We of the Never-Never Mrs Aeneas Gunn , 1908 single work novel
Issue Details: First known date: 1982... 1982 We of the Never Never
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Based on Jeannie Gunn's fictionalised autobiography of the same name, the story begins in 1902 with the arrival of Mrs Gunn and her new husband Aeneas in the Northern Territory. They have come to take over management of Elsey Station, a huge cattle and horse property. She is subsequently forced to battle isolation, disease, and the white stockmen who believe the station is no place for a woman. She befriends the local Aboriginal women, but is mystified by their culture. Her affection for the place and the people is tested by frequent tragedy.

(Source: Australian Screen.)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

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Works about this Work

It Isn't Like We're Lacking Inspiration in Our Books and Music : What's Happened to Great Aussie Movies? Nicolle Flint , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 23 September 2014; (p. 22)
Reconciliation and the History Wars in Australian Cinema Felicity Collins , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Exhuming Passions : The Pressure of the Past in Ireland and Australia 2012; (p. 207-222) 'When The Proposition ( a UK/Australia co-production, directed by John Hillcoat and scripted by Nick Cave) was released in 2005, film reviewers had no qualms about claiming this spectacular saga of colonial violence on the Queensland frontier as a 'history' film. A reviewer on BBC Radio 4 described The Proposition as 'a bushranger Western...set in violent 1880s Australian outback exposing the bitter racial tensions between English and Irish settlers. A Sunday Times review declared that 'Australia's brutal post-colonial history is stripped of all the lies in a bloody clash of cultures between the British police, the Irish bushrangers and the Aborigines.' Foregrounding the film's revisionist spectacle of colonial violence, an Australian reviewer predicted that, despite 'scenes of throat-cutting torture, rape and exploding heads...The Proposition could be the most accurate look at our national history yet'. (Author's introduction, 207)
The Experimental Film and Scapes of Paul Winkler Alex Gerbaz , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Metro Magazine , December no. 163 2009; (p. 56-60) 'These statements seem to contradict each other, suggesting that a concern with landscape and location has not only been central to the Australian feature film industry but can also be considered a key marker of alternative cinemas. The first, from an essay by Ross Gibson, leads into a discussion of the ways in which images of landscape have been used to consolidate Australian myth, national identity and a sense of belonging. The revival of the feature industry in the 1970s saw films such as Sunday Too Far Away (Ken Hannam, 1975), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975), The Man from Snowy River (George Miller, 1982) and We of the Never Never (Igor Auzins, 1982) trying to 'create a cohesive view of national character through the rendition of Australian landscape as if it were the one thing that all factions of the society held in common'.' (Introduction)
Reconciling Nicci Lane : The 'Unspeakable' Significance of Australia's First Indigenous Porn Star Andrew King , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies , December vol. 19 no. 4 2005; (p. 523-543) 'This article will explore X-rated representations of Aboriginality in Australian-produced pornographic videos, particularly the image of Australia's first indigenous porn star, Nicci Lane. It investigates how pornographic natives involving 'Aboriginal' character motifs are connected to broader embodiments of Aboriginality in popular culture. Drawing from a parallel with Australian television drama and mainstream films, the article highlights how contemporary sexualised images of Aboriginal people are intimately tied to a politics of reconciliation. By surveying recent literature on pornography, which describe how certain pornographic narratives engage 'unspoken' community desires, my argument will discuss Nicci Lane's career as a unique development in the history of representations of Aboriginality. Through analysis of Lane's Arigato Baby (1991), these 'unspoken' desires relate to showing Indigenous people in everyday sexual contexts, as romantic partners, friends and lovers...' (Author's abstract p. 523)
'We of the Never Never' a Film Apart Dougal Macdonald , 1982 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 October 1982; (p. 23)
— Review of We of the Never Never Peter Schreck , 1982 single work film/TV
'We of the Never Never' a Film Apart Dougal Macdonald , 1982 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 October 1982; (p. 23)
— Review of We of the Never Never Peter Schreck , 1982 single work film/TV
Reconciling Nicci Lane : The 'Unspeakable' Significance of Australia's First Indigenous Porn Star Andrew King , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies , December vol. 19 no. 4 2005; (p. 523-543) 'This article will explore X-rated representations of Aboriginality in Australian-produced pornographic videos, particularly the image of Australia's first indigenous porn star, Nicci Lane. It investigates how pornographic natives involving 'Aboriginal' character motifs are connected to broader embodiments of Aboriginality in popular culture. Drawing from a parallel with Australian television drama and mainstream films, the article highlights how contemporary sexualised images of Aboriginal people are intimately tied to a politics of reconciliation. By surveying recent literature on pornography, which describe how certain pornographic narratives engage 'unspoken' community desires, my argument will discuss Nicci Lane's career as a unique development in the history of representations of Aboriginality. Through analysis of Lane's Arigato Baby (1991), these 'unspoken' desires relate to showing Indigenous people in everyday sexual contexts, as romantic partners, friends and lovers...' (Author's abstract p. 523)
Reconciliation and the History Wars in Australian Cinema Felicity Collins , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Exhuming Passions : The Pressure of the Past in Ireland and Australia 2012; (p. 207-222) 'When The Proposition ( a UK/Australia co-production, directed by John Hillcoat and scripted by Nick Cave) was released in 2005, film reviewers had no qualms about claiming this spectacular saga of colonial violence on the Queensland frontier as a 'history' film. A reviewer on BBC Radio 4 described The Proposition as 'a bushranger Western...set in violent 1880s Australian outback exposing the bitter racial tensions between English and Irish settlers. A Sunday Times review declared that 'Australia's brutal post-colonial history is stripped of all the lies in a bloody clash of cultures between the British police, the Irish bushrangers and the Aborigines.' Foregrounding the film's revisionist spectacle of colonial violence, an Australian reviewer predicted that, despite 'scenes of throat-cutting torture, rape and exploding heads...The Proposition could be the most accurate look at our national history yet'. (Author's introduction, 207)
It Isn't Like We're Lacking Inspiration in Our Books and Music : What's Happened to Great Aussie Movies? Nicolle Flint , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 23 September 2014; (p. 22)
The Experimental Film and Scapes of Paul Winkler Alex Gerbaz , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Metro Magazine , December no. 163 2009; (p. 56-60) 'These statements seem to contradict each other, suggesting that a concern with landscape and location has not only been central to the Australian feature film industry but can also be considered a key marker of alternative cinemas. The first, from an essay by Ross Gibson, leads into a discussion of the ways in which images of landscape have been used to consolidate Australian myth, national identity and a sense of belonging. The revival of the feature industry in the 1970s saw films such as Sunday Too Far Away (Ken Hannam, 1975), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975), The Man from Snowy River (George Miller, 1982) and We of the Never Never (Igor Auzins, 1982) trying to 'create a cohesive view of national character through the rendition of Australian landscape as if it were the one thing that all factions of the society held in common'.' (Introduction)
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Awards

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Last amended 20 May 2014 11:57:36
Igor Auzins
Subjects:
  • Bush,
  • 1900s
Settings:
  • Roper River area, East Arnhem Land, Arnhem Land, Top End, Northern Territory,
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