The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)

71% of users liked it
(104 ratings)

Based on a novel by Thomas Keneally, which was in turn inspired by actual events, this drama is a shocking indictment of the racism inflicted on the indigenous people of Australia. Jimmie (Tommy Lewis) is a half-white, half-aborigine young man raised by a Methodist minister. Feeling outcast among… More Based on a novel by Thomas Keneally, which was in turn inspired by actual events, this drama is a shocking indictment of the racism inflicted on the indigenous people of Australia. Jimmie (Tommy Lewis) is a half-white, half-aborigine young man raised by a Methodist minister. Feeling outcast among the aborigines, Jimmie moves to the city and gets a job working for a white family. When a white serving girl at the estate becomes pregnant, everyone is convinced that Jimmie is the father; to spare the girl's honor, Jimmie marries her and is allowed to live with her on the estate. But after the child is born, everyone realizes that the father was a white man, not Jimmie; he is still willing to accept the child and stand beside his wife, but his employers now feel that he married a white girl under false pretenses, and they bar him from the estate. Forbidden to see his wife and fired without receiving his pay, Jimmie finally explodes in a fury of violent revenge. Director Fred Schepisi's original cut of this film runs 122 minutes, though it was more widely distributed in a shortened version running 108 minutes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 2 min.
Directed By: Fred Schepisi
Written By: Fred Schepisi
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Jun 21, 1978 Wide
On DVD: Nov 18, 2008

Critic Reviews

Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Schepisi directs with an immediate energy and crisp cutting that reminded me of films like The Harder They Come (1972).
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
A powerful and confronting story: one of the most significant films of the 1970s film renaissance in Australia
Phil Hall, Film Threat
One of the greatest films to come from Australia.

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Cast

Tommy Lewis
as Jimmie Blacksmith
Freddy Reynolds
as Mort Blacksmith
Ray Barrett
as Constable Farrell

Jack Thompson
as Rev. Neville
Peter Carroll
as McCready
Elizabeth Alexander
as Petra Graf

See full cast

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