Charlie's Country

2013

1h 48m

Drama

List

95%

Tomatometer

39 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

Charlie (David Gulpilil), an Aboriginal man of Australia, struggles to navigate the society he finds himself in, especially when he tries to reconnect with the traditional ways of his people.

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Critics Consensus

Powerfully performed and beautifully directed, Charlie's Country uses its protagonist's personal saga to explore poignant universal themes.

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Brad Wheeler

Globe and Mail

The upright art-houser is told in English and Yolngu, with English subtitles, but the message would be clear without any dialogue: Australia is no country for old Aborigine.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 21, 2015

Full Review

Peter Keough

Boston Globe

Australia offers few sights as sublime as that of David Gulpilil.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 16, 2015

Full Review

Tom Keogh

Seattle Times

A series of chapters in noble effort and misadventure alike, all captured with fluid camerawork trained on Gulpilil's every move or his long passages of mesmerizing stillness.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 11, 2015

Full Review

Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

The film - beyond some politically correct concessions - has beauty, sensitivity, and humor even in its denunciation. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 27, 2023

Full Review

Stephen A. Russell

The New Daily (Australia)

Gulpilil, as the eponymous Charlie, dreams of returning to his people and traditional way of life, setting out on a quest across the unforgiving yet ethereally beautiful bush. He's a joy to watch.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 26, 2020

Full Review

Danielle Davenport

One Room With A View

Charlie's Country is passionate, beautiful and bittersweet as it expresses a poignant tale of vulnerability, rage and sorrow.

Rated: 4/5

May 25, 2019

Full Review

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anne H

Rolf De Heer is a brilliant film maker whose work examines the plight of indigenous Australians, sometimes bleak The Tracker to the joyous in Ten Canoes. Charlies Country is a beautiful study of an aging indigenous man whose quest is to return to country. In his quest he becomes ill and is found by his friend and is hospitalized in the city of Darwin. His journey stumbles when he becomes a victim of white mans law and is imprisoned as a result of a fracas with the police. He grapples with the boredom of prison life and the suffocating effect it has on indigenous people who are bonded with the land. David Gulpilil as Charlie is sublime as this proud elegant indigenous man. He is a wise man and his silence and stillness says so much. This is David Gulpilils finest performance and one of the finest I have seen on screen. He is truly mesmerizing on screen, and De Heers Direction is a labor of love of its subject.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/23

Full Review

jack r

Yeah not bad good for Australian culture

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

dustin d

Charlie's Country is a humorous and insightful look at life of an Aboriginal Australian in the repressive police state down under.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Exceptional take on the outcome of colonisation and destruction of first Australians culture. Superbly directed and shot.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

mike v

Charlie's Country is a 2013 Australian drama film directed by Rolf de Heer 🇦🇺 Meh, it passed the time. Sort of. 😕 While I can appreciate the sentiment here, the pacing of this movie is far too slow for my liking.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

love this movie very powerful

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

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Rolf de Heer

Director

David Gulpilil

Charlie

Peter Djigirr

Black Pete

Luke Ford

Luke

Bobby Bunungurr

Bobby

Jennifer Budukpuduk Gaykamangu

Faith

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Synopsis

Charlie (David Gulpilil), an Aboriginal man of Australia, struggles to navigate the society he finds himself in, especially when he tries to reconnect with the traditional ways of his people.

Director: Rolf de Heer
Producer: Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr, Nils Erik Nielsen
Screenwriter: Rolf de Heer, David Gulpilil
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Australian English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.4K
Runtime: 1h 48m

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