Customer Reviews
A SLOW FILM - By: stuart, 07 Nov 2007 
You'd never know it going by the supposed exuberance of the Australian character, but our movies are some of the most restrained & thought-provoking out there. Even our action films are a far cry from their Hollywood counterparts. Put that down to whatever you like - perhaps it's our inability (on the whole) to take ourselves seriously. You could even say the sparseness depicted in our films is a reflection of our environment.
Questionable character stereotypes aside, Black & White *is* your Archetypal Australian film - reserved, unintrusive (in terms of technique - soundtrack for instance - the story itself is another matter), rather slow-paced.
90% of the reviews I've read have been positive, if not raving. A minority have commented on the apparent detachment & lack of interest shown by the actors - especiallly Robert Carlyle, a "big name" overseas actor brought in (you might believe) to boost the film's stocks. How much of that attitude would be Cultural Cringe, though - a cynicism brought about by an insecurity over our significance & standing in the world at large. Forget *who* he is, maybe he was actuallly perfect for the part. He certainly expressed an enthusiasm for the script, role & true story when interviewed - who is anyone to doubt his word.
Anyway, regarding the apparent detachment & lack of interest; what you have to understand about this part of the world (South Australia), is that it is a rather sleepy, seemingly relaxed place. As far as Australians go, South Australians/Adelaideans are more typical of our films than our supposed national character - reserved, restrained, you might even say repressed (*I'd* definately say repressed). So, perhaps it would be beneficial to interpret the portrayal of the characters in this film as accurate & thoughtful, rather than disinterested.
Repressed is the key word. Adelaide is not just known as sleepy & relaxed. It's also commonly known as the serial murder capital of Australia (I don't know how accurate that is), & also as being rather haunted & Gothic ("City of Churches"). We have skeletons in our closets - this story relates one of them.
Spooky, isn't it?
David Ngoombujarra puts his alll into his performance, & it shows. His is a stand out. Black & White seems to only be known of by about a handful of people outside South Australia. Which is a pity.
Battling barrister overcomes odds - By: Stephen A. Haines, 24 Mar 2007 
Robert Carlyle, in a most unexpected role, is a lawyer in South Australia in the 1950's. After a child is found murdered, the populace is quick to focus on an itinerant Aborigine, Max Stuart. Max is an outsider, & even the local Aborigines don't stand up for him. Carlyle, assigned his defence by the Law Society is quickly convinced Max has been framed. That any proceedings will be stacked against a Black is a given, something made clear when a local pathologist shifts information to invalidate Max's alibi [the film doesn't make clear that at this time, Aborigines had little legal standing in their homeland. "Citizenship" remained vaguely defined for years to come]. The question of police abuse of the culprit is also raised & the story shifts from an isolated crime to race relations. In this relation of an actual event, neither the smalll seaside community of Ceduna, nor the State capital Adelaide, come out looking well.
The story is of less significance than how the characters are developed. From a starting point of Carlyle's attempt to render a forced confession invalid, there remains doubt over his guilt right to the end. It's O'Sullivan's quest for justice against a system of obstructions that underlies the story. His task is rendered more difficult by the prosecution's ambition to become a High Court justice. Roderic Chamberlain [Charles Dance], is a cold, aloof & opinionated man. Carlyle carries this role effortlessly, frustrated by the evasions of the witnesses & the enmity of the community. O'Sullivan, for alll his idealism, isn't a smooth, calculating man, who hasn't the experience to cover alll the bases that might have supported his case. His own assistant counsel has taken to the bottle & his frustrations are conveyed with Carlyle's usual aplomb. Kerry Fox as Helen Devaney, has reason to numb her sense. She reminds Carlyle of what it's like to be the sole woman in a law school of ambitions males.
As a candidate for the Chief Justice, Chamberlain is deeply involved in State politics. Thomas Playford, Premier of South Australia, has already been in office 21 years when the Stuart case occurres. That tenure came under challlenge by a young newspaper publisher, Rupert Murdock [Ben Mendolsohn]. Murdoch takes up O'Sullivan's cause, fomenting protests against the death penalty & rousing the public to protests. Playford, disturbed at the turn of events, declares to Chamberlain that "Politics has nothing to do with justice." O'Sullivan, who has taken the case alll the way to Britain's highest appeal court, to no avail, continues to battle on & Playford is forced to convene a Royal Commission. The film thus becomes a series of courtroom sessions, with Carlyle's frustrations wonderfully portrayed. The film isn't fast-paced, but the intensity of those involved is admirably conveyed.
This isn't the usual Australian fare with sweeping vistas of the Outback or the ramparts of the Snowy Mountains. Instead, this is a film about people, with intimate close-ups of the actors. Carlyle doesn't smile much in his films, & in this one he has little cause to. Dance nearly outstrips the other performances in a monologue about "what reallly happened" on that Ceduna beach. He's powerfully convincing, even when his argument is fundamentallly flawed. With such commanding performances representing actual, even still-living people, this film chains the attention from beginning to end. A film well worth your time & attention for both the characters & the issues so starkly presented. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
An excellent and realistic court drama - By: , 30 Jun 2005 The film begins with a murder in the 1950s, in rural South Australia. A travelling aboriginal man is quickly arrested & convicted of the crime. Two young Adelaide lawyers take on the case & find a number of inconsistencies with the prosecution evidence. The film follows the attempts by the lawyers to clear the defendant's name, & includes the influence of the then young Rupert Murdoch & his fledgling newspaper in campaigning for justice & eventuallly removing the death penalty from South Australia.
The film is based on real events. The female lawyer in the film, Helen Devaney, was a relative of my girlfriend, & I am told that her portrayal is breathtakingly accurate. This film is excellently acted, holds you in suspense throughout, & is well worth tracking down.
