Samson and Delilah - Film Review

Samson and Delilah is one of the best films Australia has had to offer in recent years. It’s a touching love story about two 14-year-old Aboriginal teenagers living in Central Australia, who experience immense hardship in their struggle for survival. There is no shortage of tough moments, as the film confronts some significant issues in regards to Australian Indigenous youth. But it’s the unique portrayal and powerfully affecting love story that’s central to the film’s triumph. The resilience of the outcast couple’s love, keeps us devoted to following them along their journey, even through the bleakest of times.

The story opens in a small Aboriginal community, in a remote town near Alice Springs. It’s a repetitive life for Samson (Rowan McNamara), every morning he sniffs petrol and has to listen to his brothers playing the same piece of music. Delilah (Melissa Gibson) lives nearby with her Grandmother “Nana” (Mitjili Napanangka Gibson) and she spends her time attending to her. She helps with Nana’s paintings, takes her regularly to the local health clinic and to the small, tin shed Church. Samson is curious of Delilah when she passes by one day and attempts to get her attention by throwing a rock at her. In the days that follow, Samson dedicates himself to being within her vicinity, despite all Delilah’s attempts to avert him. When Nana dies, Delilah is blamed for her death and beaten by the older women in the community. Angered by the attack, Samson steals the community car and drives off with Delilah while she’s sleeping. They stay in Alice Springs, living under a bridge with a homeless, alcoholic man named Gonzo (Scott Thornton), who shares his food and shelter with them. Progressively their young lives descend into a hellish series of violence and tragic events, but they give each other the will to keep fighting for survival until the very end.

What makes this film so special is how the two main characters interact. They communicate non-verbally through looks, gestures and body language. There is no doubt of their affection for each other, despite that they don’t actually exchange one word throughout the entire film. In an ABC TV “At The Movies” interview, Director/Writer Warwick Thornton makes comment on how he wanted to create characters with a unique relationship based on a “connection that isn’t through dialogue”. He expresses that it was essential to him for the film to have an “absolute reality base” and tells of his dislike of “12-year-olds in movies these days, giving articulate monologues of love… talking about love like they’ve gone through seven marriages.” Thornton’s depiction of Samson was drawn from his own personal childhood experiences of courtship; he says that if he’d liked a girl at that age he “would’ve thrown a rock at her”.

Some serious issues and harsh realities are brought to the surface in the film. Thornton grew up in Alice Springs and understands the problems there with displaced Indigenous youth. With Samson and Delilah there is a sense of struggle to reconcile their traditional cultural heritage with life in the city. They are drifters, lost between two worlds in a state of nothingness. They are outcasts of both their Aboriginal community and the white privileged society of the city. When a security guard tails Samson suspiciously in the supermarket, we’re reminded that this situation is not far from the norm for many Aboriginal teenagers. Then there’s the heart-rending scene, where the desperate Delilah tries to sell her painting to the customers of a café and is awkwardly ignored. The division between the Indigenous and white population is depicted in the scene where the hungry, disheveled Delilah watches a group of blonde haired schoolgirls, eating ice cream and chatting on their mobile phones. While this is not to say that Samson and Delilah epitomize all Indigenous youth, they do represent the reality for many.

The film is structurally compact, every scene being a purposeful step in moving the protagonists’ forward in their emotional journey. As we head down the devastating path of tragedy and injustice, from one blow to the next, we reach a point where it feels like the downward spiral can reach no darker place. But through the determined theme of love that drives the story and the techniques of a well-crafted film, the tone changes with a smooth fluidity. We are pulled up towards the optimistic light of hope, without the process feeling forced or superficial.

This film may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it requires you to slow down and accustom to flow of its rhythm. With lingering long takes and sparse use of verbal interaction, the pace of life in the isolated Aboriginal community is captured beautifully. Long takes give smaller details greater resonance, allowing you to recognize the emotional capacity of subtle human gestures, and to absorb the ambience of the landscape, from the vast outback to the barren cityscape.

The non-professional lead actors Rowan McNamara and Melissa Gibson are outstanding in their portrayal of Samson and Delilah. They breathe an incredible naturalism into their performances and handle the demanding emotional weight of their roles superbly. Mitjili Napanangka Gibson is wonderful as Nana. She is a real-life artist and the actual Grandmother of Melissa Gibson; her humour and infectious laugh makes for some of the most captivating moments in the film. To win the role of Gonzo, Warwick’s brother Scott Thornton went into rehab to beat a genuine alcohol addiction. Warwick has said the character of Gonzo was influenced by Scott’s real life experiences as a homeless alcoholic.

Music is used in a minimal and selective way that gives great accentuation to certain scenes within the film’s generally non-verbal format. Both Samson and Delilah express their urge for change and independence through music. Samson tries to disrupt the repetitive routine of his brothers’ band by dancing to blasting rock music on the stereo; and each night Delilah escapes to the car to listen to a cassette of Latin music. One of the most moving scenes is with Australian country singer Troy Cassar-Daley’s stirring rendition of David Gray’s “Nightblindness”.

Samson and Delilah is a remarkable film and it was awarded as winner of the Caméra d'Or Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It’s an amazing achievement that such emotional depth can be produced even with the absence of dialogue. The setting is highly authentic and love story feels sincere. This is a confronting story at times, filled with much tragedy, but the message remains clear, all you need in life is love.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Director/Writer: Warwick Thornton

Producer: Kath Shelper

Year of Release: 2009

Duration: 101mins

Country: Australia

Cast:

Rowan McNamara – Samson

Melissa Gibson – Delilah

Mitjili Napanangka Gibson – Nana

Scott Thornton - Gonzo