Directed by Stephen Johnson
Written by Chris Anastassiades
Starring Simon Baker, Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Jack Thompson
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Available digital and on demand May 14

by Gary Kramer, Staff Writer

As sharp as the flints that are used to make spears, the Australian western, High Ground, set in the early twentieth century, depicts a war between an Aboriginal tribe and the White man. Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s film may be set in the past, but when Eddy (Callan Mulvey), an Australian soldier, is choking Gutjuk (Jacob Junior Nayinggul), it is hard not to flash on Black Lives Matter.

This violent drama opens with a massacre. A group of white soldiers on a “peaceful expedition” end up killing almost an entire tribe of Aboriginals. Only the elderly Grandfather Dharrpa (Witiyana Marika) and his son Baywara (Sean Mununggurr), who are away from the community, survive. As does the young Gutjuk, who is taken by the white men to live at a mission run by Claire (Caren Pistorius) and Braddock (Ryan Corr). 

12 years later, Moran (Jack Thompson) arrives, and charges Travis (Simon Baker), who was at the massacre, to bring Baywara to justice for his recent crimes—inciting a mob, setting fires, and worst of all, killing a white woman. Travis employs Gutjuk, renamed Tommy, as his tracker to find Baywara. However, the racist Eddy wants the glory and follows Travis into the outback, reluctantly accompanied by Walter (Aaron Pedersen), a half-caste.

High Ground unfolds as a pretty standard western, with Gutjuk having to trust that Travis will keep his uncle Baywara alive—even though Claire warns Gutjuk not to. There are also power struggles within the Australian’s ranks as Travis, Eddy, and Moran each have an agenda regarding the Aboriginals. But the film is most interesting when it depicts the internal struggle Gutjuk has living between two worlds. 

The film’s most pivotal scene has the Aboriginals meeting with the Australians to talk about justice. The Aboriginals’ laws come from the earth, whereas the Australians’ laws are handed down from Europeans. Dharrpa wants the right to judge his son, restore balance, and mete out justice. However, the Australians want everyone to adhere to the same laws of the land. Of course, the Aboriginals insist it was their land first, and they want respect. This episode may be didactic, but it gets its points across clearly. 

High Ground is squarely on the side of the Aboriginals, and Johnson is certainly respectful. (Witiyana Marika is listed in the credits as a Senior Cultural Advisor). The film uses the outback as atmosphere, capturing the snakes, crocodiles, insects, birds, and other animals that populate the frontier land, emphasizing the innocence (and danger) of nature—and by extension, the Aboriginals. 

The filmmaker often shoots through the scope of a rifle or overhead to give a macro and micro view of the action, which is impressive. Likewise, an early episode involving the young Gutjuk learning about hunting from his father is later mirrored in a scene where Travis teaches Gutjuk how to shoot a rifle. Johnson also includes other conqueror metaphors, from Australian soldiers raping an Aboriginal woman to an image of a burning church, but they feel clunky. 

The performances are also uneven. Jacob Junior Nayinggul makes Gutjuk sympathetic throughout the story. He is ingratiating as a young man trying to do right by his tribe. And Marika and Mununggurr provide strong support in their handful of scenes. But while Travis is one of the more complex characters—in that he is not overtly racist—Simon Baker does not have enough to do in his pivotal role. There is no ambiguity about his actions, which might have made a more interesting film. As Eddy, Callan Mulvey is such an obvious and one-note villain that he comes off as cartoonish, more mustache twirling than menacing. That said, the reliable Jack Thompson does a fine job as Moran. As Walter, Aaron Pedersen is largely wasted in what could have been an interesting character. 

Despite its flaws, High Ground is gorgeously filmed and features timely lessons about race and colonization. Its insights into Aboriginal culture are both valuable and welcome.