Ten Canoes – A Review

The film Ten Canoes is a strikingly original, clever and at the same time insightful documentary that sheds light on Australian aboriginal culture, specifically on that of the Yolgnu people. It is truly one of its kind much of that is due to its director Rolf de Heer, who uses various screening techniques to ensure that the aboriginal story be told by the aboriginal people themselves. Almost every shot throughout the film utilize and show only elements of aboriginal culture including the aboriginal language, the aboriginal people themselves and their land. In this respect, de Heer has made a great film or rather used the screen quite perfectly and accurately as a medium for the aboriginal people to tell their own story. Complying to rules and regulations are often the biggest barriers for filmmakers especially when these rules and regulations are so closely associated with issues of sensitivity and made more difficult when the film that is being made employs a narrative that have very little or no room for change. De Heer’s clever usage of filming and narrative techniques successfully rids this film of potential controversies or plausible claims of disrespect. His approach in this case is not only praiseworthy but is an example to follow.

De Heer uses different coloured film stock to demonstrate and distinguish the different time frames in this multi – layered documentary/story and does so to great effect. He shows us what I would like to call the documented events of the past through black and white film, like old photographs taken of real Yolgnu people in real time and setting; He uses coloured film stock for the scenes set in dreamtime and in the present, giving us not only a clearer understanding of what is going on in the film, but also knowledge or a reminder that the aboriginal culture is not something of the past nor does it only reside in the present, but also existent in a time and place that for us may either be out of reach or incomprehensible. At times the film may seem a little slow-paced. But while it is not your everyday edge-of-your-seat ‘thriller’ documentary, De Heer sure knows how to keep his audience attention, holding us in constant admiration of the landscapes he emphasises and that are home to the aboriginal people, preserving our deep engagement with the characters and their practices, while repeatedly inflamming our curiosity as the story reveals itself patiently, not to mention throwing in a few comedic moments along the way. More importantly, he succeeds in maintaining a notable authenticity throughout the film, making sure it is truly and genuinely aboriginal. As a result, the tale of the Yolgnu people and the accompanying knowledge it imparts is not just enlightening, but truly believable, captivating and remarkably effective.