The Legend of Molly Johnson is the first full-feature film from writer, director and star Leah Purcell, an Aboriginal-Australian actor who expands on and reimagines Henry Lawson short story from 1892, “The Drover’s Wife”. The original story is a dramatic depiction of a woman’s lone struggle against nature and survival out in the wild, protecting her children from a snake while her husband works as a drover. This film is entirely different, taking the throughline of the lone woman surviving in a rural landscape and enriches her story. She is also pregnant, a victim of an abusive husband, and, as we find out in the film, part Aboriginal. The forces of patriarchy, domestic violence, sexism, and racism rule her world, yet she strives to protect her children as an independent, tough woman.
Molly Johnson, as played by Leah Purcell, is the beating heart of this film. She is stern yet passionate, discerning yet tender. She loves her children and is willing to fight and even kill to protect them. Purcell gives a restrained, sometimes heartbreaking, performance as a woman trapped in her time, abused by her life circumstances but full of grit and feeling. For much of the film, we do not know what happened to Molly’s husband, or what flashes of memory plague her, but Purcell conveys this dilemma and increasing tension well. Throughout the story, Molly encounters several other characters, including the new sheriff in town, Sergeant Nate Klintoff (played by Sam Reid), his forward-thinking wife Louisa Klintoff (played by Jessica De Gouw), who fancies herself an activist and wants to fight for battered women, and Yadaka (played by Rob Collins), an Aboriginal man on the run after being potentially wrongly accused of murder. All these actors give compelling performances, caught in between different identities; the Klintoffs as progressive English transplants to a rural, conservative Australia, Yadaka as an educated man who has traveled the world, who is proud of his culture but treated as a “savage” and now running for his life. Their performances bring these characters to life; their conflict and grief is evident in their performances, beyond how the characters are written.
What the film struggles with most is the heavy-handed nature of its vital lessons. This film is an important and often beautiful depiction of the racist, sexist history and consequences of Australian colonial history; as depicted by an aboriginal woman, we can therefore understand how these truths resonate today. However, these lessons are often told, not shown, to the viewer, or conveyed with abrupt changes in conversations or turns of the plot. Mrs. Klintoff brings up her murdered sister with her husband in a conversation that is intended for the audience, rather than an organic delivery of information. The villains are obvious and narrow. Sometimes, instead of letting us observe these lessons, we get shifts in plot that explicitly convey them, or characters telling us what has happened to them. However, we do have many lovely moments between Molly and Yadaka, and between the Klintoffs. Molly and Yadaka have a convincing slow build to their trust, so when they face peril in the last parts of the film, our concern for them is real. The Klintoffs have a real love for each other, and their disagreement about the law and battered women is realistic and compelling.
The film is beautifully shot in sweeping natural landscapes, even if the colors veer towards too muted dark blues and browns that dampen the scenes at times. The soundtrack of classic violin-western, mixed with classical rock sounds, heightens the dramatic moments, but often overwhelms and intrudes on quieter scenes that would do well without it.
Overall, The Legend of Molly Johnson is an important film, crafting a unique story about a complex woman trapped in a world prejudiced against and violent towards her identity. We care about her and the other main characters and are drawn into their trials. The film is weighed down by some heavy-handed plot points and occasional didactic dialogue, but is a compelling watch overall.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
The post The Legend of Molly Johnson appeared first on Spectrum Culture.