Backlash

Backlash (1987)

Two policemen track down and arrest an Aboriginal woman who has been accused of murder, and begin the trek back across the desert with her.

Date of release
1987-08-14
TMDB
6.0 / 10 (4)
Runtime
1h 29m
Genres
Crime, Drama
Director
Bill Bennett

Casting

Interesting facts

Backlash is a 1986 Australian film directed by Bill Bennett.

Production

Bill Bennett had raised $175,000 from the BBC and ABC to make a documentary about black tracker Jimmy James but was reluctant to proceed. He came up with the idea for the film and wondered if he could use the money to make a feature. Bennett got approval from the tax department and most investors to do this, with J C Williamson Ltd stepping in for the BBC and ABC. The final $50,000 of the budget came from Bennett himself.

Bennett later said "when I start to think about a film, I don't think about it in terms of plot, I think about it in terms of theme. Then I often contrive a plot to explore a theme. In Backlash the theme that I really wanted to explore was, in broad terms, racism, but, specifically, people who are different. That was really what I wanted to explore.

Bennett wrote a 27 page scene breakdown with no dialogue - this would be improvised by the cast. "It has been my contention that in Australian films actors have always been treated as props... so I decided to give them more power," he said. Bennett wanted to add some levity in the material and so cast David Argue, who had impressed him on stage.

The film was shot chronologically over 18 days. Bennett said "David's character was very volatile and aggressive, so was Gia's at times. There wa a thin line between what happened on camera and off." During filming out near Broken Hill Bennett often clashed with David Argue, who quit a week before shooting ended. However he came back and completed the film.

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