Charlie's Country: David Gulpilil confounds our romantic fantasies

Rolf de Heer’s new film Charlie’s Country, which opened yesterday, examines the day-to-day experiences of an older man in Arnhem Land as he struggles for independence and respect in his home town. The eponymous character is played in an extraordinary performance by Australian acting legend David Gulpilil, a frequent collaborator with de Heer – in The Tracker (2002) and Ten Canoes (2006) – and also co-writer of the film. While the story is fictional, it draws upon recognisable realities of Indigenous community life, drawn from David Gulpilil’s own life experiences – notoriously, even a recent experience as an urban long grasser and his stint in a Darwin prison.