Jedda
Encyclopedia
Jedda was the last movie made by the Australia
n filmmaker Charles Chauvel. The film is most notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal
actors (Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth) in the leading roles, and also to be the first Australian film shot in colour. Jedda is seen by some as an influential film in early Australian cinema, as it set a standard for future Australian films. It won more international attention than previous Australian films, during a time when Hollywood films were dominating the Australian cinema. The director, Charles Chauvel, was nominated for the Golden Palm Award in the 1955 Cannes Film Festival
, but lost to the American Delbert Mann
for Marty
.
After the director's 18-month search for a suitable filming location, the filming took five months to complete, plus post-production work done in Sydney. Jedda was filmed on location in the Northern Territory
in Australia. The production process was a laborious as the colour technique used, Gevacolor, could only be processed overseas in England. The film was fragile and heat-sensitive, which was a problem as the Northern Territory had a typically hot climate; during production, the film was stored in cool caves to protect it from deteriorating. The last roll of negative was destroyed in a plane crash on its way for developing in England. Chauvel re-shot the lost scenes at Kanangra Walls in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney
.
The music was written by Isador Goodman
. Elsa Chauvel, the director's wife, replaced large parts of Goodman's score with old-fashioned commercial ‘mood’ music.
Some time after the film was completed and released in locations around the world, the film in Gevacolor was found to have faded from aging. In 1972 the film was reproduced from original tri-separations found in London.
in the Northern Territory of Australia. After her mother dies giving birth to her, the child is brought to Sarah McMann, the wife of the station boss. Sarah has recently lost her own newborn to illness. She intends to give the baby to one of the Aboriginal women who work on the station, but she raises Jedda as her own, teaching her European ways and separating her from other Aborigines.
Jedda wants to learn about her own culture, but is forbidden by Sarah. When Jedda grows into a young woman, she becomes curious about an Aboriginal man from the bush named Marbuck. This tall stranger arouses strong feelings in her. She is lured to his camp one night by a song. Marbuck abducts her and sets off back to his tribal land, through crocodile
-infested swamps.
Joe, a half-caste
stockman
in love with Jedda, tracks the two for several days. They travel across high, rocky country, and down a river until Marbuck reaches his tribe. The tribal council declares that Marbuck has committed a serious crime by bringing Jedda to them, because she is not of the right 'skin' group. They sing his death song as punishment. Marbuck defies the elders and takes Jedda into an area of steep cliffs and canyons, taboo
lands. Driven insane by the death song, he pulls Jedda with him over a tall cliff, and both perish. Joe, the narrator, says her spirit has joined "the great mother of the world, in the dreaming time
of tomorrow."
)
Marbuck ... Robert Tudawali
Sarah McMann... Betty Suttor
Joe... Paul Reynall
Douglas McMann...George Simpson-Lyttle
Peter Wallis... Tas Fitzer
Felix Romeo... Wason Byers
Little Joe... Willie Farrar
Little Jedda... Margaret Dingle
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n filmmaker Charles Chauvel. The film is most notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
actors (Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth) in the leading roles, and also to be the first Australian film shot in colour. Jedda is seen by some as an influential film in early Australian cinema, as it set a standard for future Australian films. It won more international attention than previous Australian films, during a time when Hollywood films were dominating the Australian cinema. The director, Charles Chauvel, was nominated for the Golden Palm Award in the 1955 Cannes Film Festival
1955 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Marcel Pagnol *Marcel Achard *Juan Antonio Bardem *A. Dignimont *Jacques-Pierre Frogerais *Leopold Lindtberg *Anatole Litvak *Isa Miranda *Leonard Mosley...
, but lost to the American Delbert Mann
Delbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
for Marty
Marty (film)
Marty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...
.
After the director's 18-month search for a suitable filming location, the filming took five months to complete, plus post-production work done in Sydney. Jedda was filmed on location in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
in Australia. The production process was a laborious as the colour technique used, Gevacolor, could only be processed overseas in England. The film was fragile and heat-sensitive, which was a problem as the Northern Territory had a typically hot climate; during production, the film was stored in cool caves to protect it from deteriorating. The last roll of negative was destroyed in a plane crash on its way for developing in England. Chauvel re-shot the lost scenes at Kanangra Walls in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
The music was written by Isador Goodman
Isador Goodman
Isador Goodman AM was a South African-Australian Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. He became a household name in Australia in the 1930s-1970s, taught at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music for 50 years, introduced many Australians to classical music, and contributed hugely to music...
. Elsa Chauvel, the director's wife, replaced large parts of Goodman's score with old-fashioned commercial ‘mood’ music.
Some time after the film was completed and released in locations around the world, the film in Gevacolor was found to have faded from aging. In 1972 the film was reproduced from original tri-separations found in London.
Plot
Jedda is an Aboriginal girl born on a cattle stationCattle station
Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm , whose main activity is the rearing of cattle. In Australia, the owner of a cattle station is called a grazier...
in the Northern Territory of Australia. After her mother dies giving birth to her, the child is brought to Sarah McMann, the wife of the station boss. Sarah has recently lost her own newborn to illness. She intends to give the baby to one of the Aboriginal women who work on the station, but she raises Jedda as her own, teaching her European ways and separating her from other Aborigines.
Jedda wants to learn about her own culture, but is forbidden by Sarah. When Jedda grows into a young woman, she becomes curious about an Aboriginal man from the bush named Marbuck. This tall stranger arouses strong feelings in her. She is lured to his camp one night by a song. Marbuck abducts her and sets off back to his tribal land, through crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
-infested swamps.
Joe, a half-caste
Half-caste
Half-caste is a term used to describe people of mixed race or ethnicity. Caste comes from the Latin castus, meaning pure, and the derivative Portuguese and Spanish casta, meaning race...
stockman
Stockman
In Australia a stockman is a person who looks after the livestock on a large property known as a station, which is owned by a grazier or a grazing company...
in love with Jedda, tracks the two for several days. They travel across high, rocky country, and down a river until Marbuck reaches his tribe. The tribal council declares that Marbuck has committed a serious crime by bringing Jedda to them, because she is not of the right 'skin' group. They sing his death song as punishment. Marbuck defies the elders and takes Jedda into an area of steep cliffs and canyons, taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
lands. Driven insane by the death song, he pulls Jedda with him over a tall cliff, and both perish. Joe, the narrator, says her spirit has joined "the great mother of the world, in the dreaming time
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
of tomorrow."
Cast
Jedda ... Ngarla Kunoth (Rosalie Kunoth-MonksRosalie Kunoth-Monks
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, also known as Ngarla Kunoth , is an Australian Aboriginal activist.-Early life and education:Rosalie Kunoth was born in 1937 at Utopia Cattle Station in the Northern Territory of Australia to parents of the Amatjere people...
)
Marbuck ... Robert Tudawali
Sarah McMann... Betty Suttor
Joe... Paul Reynall
Douglas McMann...George Simpson-Lyttle
Peter Wallis... Tas Fitzer
Felix Romeo... Wason Byers
Little Joe... Willie Farrar
Little Jedda... Margaret Dingle
External links
- National Film and Sound Archive
- "Jedda", Murdoch University Media Communication and Culture
- "Jedda", National Film and Sound Archive
- Ben Miller 'The Mirror of Whiteness: Blackface in Charles Chauvel's Jedda ' JASAL Special Issue 2007
- Jedda at Australian Screen OnlineAustralian Screen OnlineAustralian Screen Online is an on-line database operated by the Australian National Film and Sound Archive. It provides information about and excerpts from a wide selection of Australian feature films, documentaries, television programs, newsreels, short films, animations, and home-movies. It also...