![\"Samson](\"http:\/\/www.rachaelturk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/still_sd_221-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"Samson")
<\/p>\nWriter: Warwick Thornton
\nDirector: Warwick Thornton
\nProducer: Kath Shelper<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[In Australian cinemas April 30 (NSW May 7) through Footprint Films<\/a>]<\/p>\n Exile, struggle and salvation are all central themes of Warwick Thornton\u2019s first feature Samson and Delilah<\/em>. But this is no simple allegory. And it is completely unpretentious. In fact, the conceit of this film\u2019s title works precisely because the plight of its protagonists seems of so little consequence to everyone else around them. <\/p>\n Unlike similar angst-ridden couples \u2013 from Bonnie and Clyde to Neil Armfield\u2019s Candy<\/em> to new Mexican director Gerardo Naranjo\u2019s volatile Voy a Explotar<\/em> (I\u2019m Gonna Explode<\/em>) \u2013 Thornton\u2019s Samson and Delilah<\/em> elicit a mute protest and quiet pathos. <\/p>\n Thornton\u2019s signature characters are here: the Green Bush radio station and Nana (Mitjili Napanangka Gibson) that made his award winning 2005 and 2007 short films by the same name world celebrated (the former won Best Short in the Panorama section of Berlin and the latter a Crystal Bear). Both bring humour to this otherwise largely bleak landscape. But what I like most about Thornton\u2019s direction in Samson and Delilah<\/em> is that he never allows the journey to be romanticised. Whilst his stunning cinematography could easily have elicited a nostalgic glow, the Samson and Delilah he creates in long, slow shots and intimate close-ups are all too real. <\/p>\n This narrative runs to its own rhythm and pace. There is no clearly delineated line of cause and effect; action and consequence. There are repetitions, echoes even, but no clear tracks. This will make it a difficult commercial sell but should play well at international festivals. It is Thornton\u2019s homage to a culture (and one that he knows well) in which change does not come quickly or easily and in which the greatest danger is the subtle erosion of hope itself. <\/p>\n Writer: Warwick Thornton Director: Warwick Thornton Producer: Kath Shelper [In Australian cinemas April 30 (NSW May 7) through Footprint Films] Exile, struggle and salvation are all central themes of Warwick Thornton\u2019s first feature Samson and Delilah. But this is no … Continue reading ![\"Samson](\"http:\/\/www.rachaelturk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/still_sd_342-1-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"Samson")
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