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Tudawali (DVD)

by Anthony James | September 02, 2010 13:11 | Edited September 02, 2010 14:31

While the premise is full of possibilities, the material is delivered in a largely unengaging style.

Tudawali was a full blood Aboriginal from the Northern Territory who starred in Charles and Elsa Chauvel's 1955 classic Jedda. Young, good looking and street smart, Tudawali (aka Bobby Wilson) felt a deep allure for the bright lights and big city possibilities that stardom brought; in the mid-fifties, Aborigines endured Australia's own "apartheid" system, where indigenous people could not drink legally, or live "in town", vote, or partake in meaningful labour that guaranteed equal wages to whites. These heartbreakingly grim details are recorded faithfully in this earnest, low budget part biopic, part-dramatised doco made in WA by director Steve Jodrell (who also made Shame).

 

Alan Seymour's script is full of melodramatic possibilities: the sinister suspicion that Tudawali may have been murdered for his involvement in Aboriginal civil rights in the sixties; the tortured relationship between Bobby and his long-suffering missus, burdened by TB and Tudawali's internal spiritual struggle, and so on. Alas, this material is delivered in a dry style, where characters "fill in the blanks" in exhausting speeches and pitying looks. Still, the best thing about this telemovie is Ernie Dingo in the title role. He's dignified, strong and witty. He plays the man; he's not "doing a legend." Features include interviews and short docos about Tudawali and the making of the film.