Wo die Grünen Ameisen Träumen (Where the Green Ants Dream) (1984)
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80% of critics liked it
(5 reviews) -
57% of users liked it
(480 ratings)
In a slightly padded but well-acted and relevant drama, an Australian mining company and a group of aboriginals go to court to settle a dispute over sacred land that the company wants to mine. When the Ayers Mining Company sets out to begin construction of its mine with bulldozers and earth-movers,… More In a slightly padded but well-acted and relevant drama, an Australian mining company and a group of aboriginals go to court to settle a dispute over sacred land that the company wants to mine. When the Ayers Mining Company sets out to begin construction of its mine with bulldozers and earth-movers, the Aboriginals physically block the work because the site is exactly where the green ants will gather to dream (a 40,000-year-old legend) and it cannot be disturbed. The company tries the usual means of getting their way -- through bribes and arguments -- but nothing budges the men who came to defend the land. Once in court, it is quickly apparent that tribal laws and customs and beliefs are very different than Western laws -- and how the issue will be resolved is sticky indeed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Directed By
- Werner Herzog
- Written By
- Werner Herzog
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Feb 8, 1985 Limited
- Studio
- Orion Classics
Critic Reviews
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
As a conventional narrative, it's extremely simple and fairly slapdash, but it's never simple-minded, being too full of moments of inspired craziness and wisdom.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Made in Australia, this effort is a slight, by-the-numbers rehash of Herzog's increasingly offensive noble savage theme.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
The director's eye shifts from the indigenous totem poles being celebrated to the less waxen eccentrics swarming in the sidelines
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Bruce Spence
as Lance Hackett
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Wandjuk Marika
as Miliritbi
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Roy Marika
as Dayipu
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Ray Barrett
as Cole
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Norman Kaye
as Baldwin Ferguson
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Robert Brissenden
as Prof. Stanner
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Basil Clarke
as Judge Blackburn
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Colleen Clifford
as Miss Strehlow
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Ralph Cotterill
as Fletcher
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Max Fairchild
as Police Officer
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Hugh Keays-Byrne
as Mining executive
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Nicolas Lathouris
as Arnold
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Tony Llewellyn-Jones.
as Fitzsimmons
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Dhungula I Marika
as Malila "the Mute"
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Ray Marshall
as Solicitor General Coulthard
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Gary Williams
as Watson
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Marraru Wunungmurra
as Daisy Barunga
- Christopher Cain
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Paul Cox
as Mining Photographer
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Michael Edols
as Young attorney
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Bob Ellis
as Supermarket manager
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James Ricketson
as Philip Adams the Mining Leader
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Tim Cartwright
as RAAF Pilot
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Anastasios Chatzidimpas
as Cook
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Maria Chatzidimpas
as Mongoloid Girl
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Paul Donazzan
as RAAF Pilot
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Susan Greaves
as Secretary
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Noel Lyon
as Bailiff
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Michael Mandalis
as Mandalis
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Trevor Orford
as Worker
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Phillip Radke
as Chauffeur
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Ricky Ronnie
as Strange Aborigine
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Maria Stratford
as Peevish Woman
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Michael Glynn
as Pilot
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Andrew Mack
as Protocol Officer
- Nick Lathouris
