Jimmie (Tommy Lewis) is a young indigenous Australian being raised and educated by a Methodist minister, Reverend Neville (Jack Thompson). Their relationship is established in the opening pre-credit sequence through a series of cuts that eventually take us to the devastating final shot before the opening credits. The scene, and movie, begins with Rev. Neville upset that Jimmie has disappeared, ignoring his duties and school work. Jimmie is seen being initiated with the local tribesmen who teach him the ways of the outback. The two different worlds keep colliding with jarring cuts, not intended to provide a smooth transition but to, instead, showcase the differences between the two. When Jimmie finally returns, Rev. Neville immediately scolds him. Scolds him for, basically, taking part in his own culture. The Rev. Neville tells him that he, Jimmie, has a higher purpose. The scene then cuts to Jimmie in the house, standing against a bed while the Rev. Neville quietly and efficiently canes him. After three swift cracks against the skin, the scene abruptly shifts to the opening credits and the title card appears under a swell of ominous music. It's a captivating beginning and the rest of the movie only gets better.
After the credits, Jimmie is an adult, ready to leave home and live on his own. He gets jobs building fences on farms but the first farmer only partially pays him, claiming he measured the fence wrong. When he tells Jimmie to be off his property by morning, Jimmie asks if he can catch a ride into town on the farmer's buggy. The farmer says no. Then Jimmie asks for a reference. The farmer refuses and Jimmie leaves, disillusioned and disappointed.
The situation repeats itself as others hire Jimmie only to exploit him. A stint Jimmie has with a local constable proves harrowing and defeating for Jimmie. Slowly, Jimmie sees himself as an outsider with no chance of ever being accepted by white Australian society, or even given a fair shake. Eventually, further circumstances lead Jimmie to snap as the movie takes a grim turn with its unflinching look at Jimmie's efforts to "declare war" on the Australians who have wronged him.
Fred Schepisi put a lot of his own money into the production of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and the results, at least critically, were overwhelming. Critics praised the dark vision of the film and it competed for top honors at several film festivals in 1978 but the finances were a mess. After marketing fees and post-production costs skyrocketed, Schepisi was left with almost a complete loss of his initial capital. He left the Australian cinema shortly thereafter.
Thomas Keneally spent a career writing historical fiction, in which real events serve as the basis for the story he tells, and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was his most successful early effort. Written from Jimmie's point of view, Keneally later said he should have written it from a white character's point of view because it was presumptuous of him to pretend he could understand the psychological turmoil of enduring racial bigotry. He went on to even greater success with his book Schindler's Ark, in 1982, adapted into Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg in 1993.
Tommy Lewis (who now goes by Tom E. Lewis) plays the boomeranging emotions of the title character expertly, especially considering he was new to film acting. Jimmie goes from enthusiasm to disillusion to rage and back and forth throughout the climax until finally settling into surrender. It's a character arc that demands range and Lewis handles it perfectly. It was a part he never expected to have. Director Schepisi's wife, Rhonda, who was in charge of casting, saw him in an airport and figured him perfect for the role.
The rest of the cast is rounded out by an array of talented and reliable actors familiar to anyone who knows Australian cinema. Jack Thompson is the most famous of these and though his role is small, he makes a lasting impression. Ray Barrett, Angela Punch and Peter Carroll all do fine work as well and in a small, early role, Bryan Brown shows up as a sheep shearer, years before his breakthrough role in Breaker Morant (1980) and almost a decade before his star turn in F/X (1986).
Fred Schepisi would go on to direct only eighteen films in his career but several of them have become classics, including two excellent showcases for Meryl Streep's talents, Plenty (1985) and A Cry in the Dark (1988). He also directed the Steve Martin hit, Roxanne (1987). But nothing will ever top The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, a brutally poetic film of disturbing power.
Producer: Fred Schepisi, Roy Stevens
Director: Fred Schepisi
Writer: Fred Schepisi
Production Designer: Wendy Dickson
Cinematography: Ian Baker
Editor: Brian Kavanagh
Music: Bruce Smeaton
Cast: Tommy Lewis (Jimmie Blacksmith), Freddy Reynolds (Mort Blacksmith), Ray Barrett (Farrell), Jack Thompson (Rev. Neville), Angela Punch (Gilda Marshall), Steve Dodds (Tabidgi), Peter Carroll (McCready), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs. Heather Newby), Don Crosby (Newby), Elizabeth Alexander (Petra Graf), Peter Sumner (Dowie Steed), Tim Robertson (Healey), Ray Meagher (Dud Edmonds), Brian Anderson (Hyberry), Jane Harders (Mrs. Healey)
by Greg Ferrara
