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Module A Content: Language, Identity and Culture . Text Form: Film ; Perkins, Rachel, One Night The Moon, Dendy 2001. Unit description In this unit, students learn about the power of language to both reflect and shape individual and collective identity through the close study of the prescribed text, Rachel Perkins’ 2001 feature film One Night the Moon, and other related materials. Students consider how texts can shape their selfperception, as well as shape a sense of identity for individuals and communities. Through their responding and composing, students develop an appreciation for the power of language to reveal and challenge prevailing assumptions and beliefs about themselves, individuals and cultural groups. Themes in the film ● Racism against Aboriginal Australians during the 1930’s ● The fragility of relationships ● The power of loss Characters ● Emily Daughter of Jim and Rose White Australian She gets lost throughout the film after trying to follow the moon later on she is found dead a few days later ● Jim Father of Emily White Australian Becomes stubborn and attempts to find Emily Resorts to being alcoholic Post to seeing Emily dead, he commits suicide via shotgun ● Albert Indigenous police officer and expert tracker Received harsh racist judgements Later quits his job Finds Emily with rose Takes her dead body back home respectively and attends funeral ● Rose Mother of Emily White Australian Shifts her perception of Albert Blames Jim for his stubbornness

Symbolism ● Flashback of Emily extending her out to her parents, then letting go symbolises the disconnection and separation between Emily and her parents. ● Weather , cloudy and darkening skies resemble anger and loss ● The use of songs

Camera Work Angles ● Front angle ● Wide pan angle ● Birds eye view ● Zoomed in angle ● Moving frames angle ● Wide framed ● Still angle Camera angle shots ● Close up beginning with man ● From outside window looking inside whilst character looking outside ● Still shots ● Multiple Landscape shots ● Wide pan ● Sky / moon shots ( zoomed on moon rising ) ● Panicked shots ● Character coming up hill ● Zoomed in shot ● Blurred shot ● Moon rising up hill ● Time passing as Albert searches for tracks Scenes ● ● ● ●

Scene 1: Opening- ‘I don’t Know anything, anymore’ Scene 2: The Search Party begins-’This Land is Me/This Land is Mine’ Scene 3: Rose, and Albert Searching for Emily- Discovery of Emily’s body Scene 4: Emily’s Funeral

Plot summary One night the moon is a musical film produced by director Rachel Perkins. The films explores the case of a missing child and racial prejudice amongst indigenous Australians. Set in the Australia Outback in the 1930s , Perkins successfully manages to acknowledge the discrimination amongst aboriginals but also the difference in time. The movie primarily focuses on a white family where the parents being Rose and Jim and their beloved daughter Emily. It begins where Rose sings a lullaby ‘One night the moon’ as she and Jim puts her to bed. Later the night , Emily awakens with curiosity as she sets out her bedroom window to follow the moon in the night desert. Rose wakes later on and discovers Emily had gone missing, and after a panicked moment of calling for her , she sent Jim to the police department. The next day a search party arrived with multiple white men even and dog trackers , however one in particular being an indigenous man Albert who happened to be a policeman and known to be the best tracker within that land. When Jim hears of this, he expressed his ignorant and unfiltered opinion where he rejected Alberts assistance and said “j don’t want no black man on my land”. Furious and offended Albert was sent home and the search party had left, Albert had known that they were going the wrong way but was unable to do much. After the search party returned , Rose was in search for a sign of relief but instead was met with shaken heads in sorrow, she therefore begged her husband Jim to let Albert assist and he stubbornly rejected insisting he would find her himself. Meanwhile Albert had quit his title as a policeman and ended up meeting with Rose. They then set out to track Emily, and later after a few difficult moments, they reach a certain point where they both slow down and expressions change into

deep grief, as Albert lowers his hat, it signifies a death. In front of them laid a lifeless small body that tragically belonged to Emily. Heartbroken , Rose wept over her daughters soulless body as Albert respectfully carries her throughout the desert back to her home. As they meet with Jim, who had just finished drowning his sorrows in alcohol , he carries Emily and is immediately heartbroken. The film then repeats the beginning song scene where Jim has his moment of reflection and he walks into Emily’s room one final time, glances at her belongings and leaves with a shotgun in his hand, then he is seen walking further away from the house towards the horizon til he disappears and a sound of a gunshot depicts his suicide. Finally, Emily gets to Rest In Peace as Rose puts her down in her grave at her funeral joined by relatives and close friends as well as Albert and his wife. The theme of this film was the power of loss and fragile relationships. It also taught a lesson on ignorance and stubbornness. Rachel Perkins Rachel Perkins is a woman of indigenous Australian culture belonging specifically to the Arrernte and Kalkdoon tribe. Perkins was born in the great capital city of Australia, Canberra in 1970. Being the daughter of Indegenous Activists Eileen and Charlie Perkins, her family reputation was already well known amongst others. When Perkins had turned 18, she soon migrated to Alice Springs where she had enrolled in a traineeship at Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (AAMA) which is a media organisation that primarily focuses on the involvement of the local indigenous community in their film production. She soon began learning firsthand skills of filming, editing, directing etc. as well as story-telling amongst central Australian communities. At the age of 21, Rachel Perkins left CAAMA to become the youngest Female Executive Producer at SHS, therefore resulting in the program for Anoriginal Film Unit. Throughout the course of her career , Perkims proved to be successful through her working with strong female actors such as Deborah Mailman, Rachel Naza as well as her films like Radiance (1998) which won numerous awards. She was also known to launch the career of Deborah Mailman. Specifically her film “One night the moon (2001) which won over ten film awards for Cinematography, Direction, Cript, Music and editing etc. Perkins is therefore known as a well known Australian director , Producer and Writer. Historical Context - Great Depression - Stolen Generations

Theme- Racism against Aboriginal Australians during the 1930’s Quotes/ Evidence

Technique used

“No Blacks on my Land” Tone: Jim Ryan Says it in an aggressive manner

Impact of Technique

Scene Number

Tone makes Jim’ sRacial demeanour evident.

Scene Two- ‘The search party begins’

“This Land is Mine/This land is Me”

Juxtaposition: Opposing Juxtaposition in the views on land Lyrics shows the different views on land White Australians, and Aborignal Australians have

Scene Two-’The search party begins

Albert“This Land Owns me”

Song Lyric/ Personification

Shows the importance of land for Albert. Land is the centrepoint in his spirituality.

Scene Two-’The search party begins

Jim“I’m working hard just to make it pay.”

Song Lyric

Shows what land means to Jim.

Scene Two-’The search party begins’

Theme- The fragility of relationships Quotes/ Evidence of Technique

Technique Used

Impact of Technique

Scene Number

Shots of Albert, and Cross Cutting Rose searching alternated with shots of Jim having a breakdown.

Cross Cutting allows for the fragile relationship between Rose, and Jim to be seen. It allows the audience to see the desperation of Rose compared to Jim giving up.

Scene Three-Rose, and Albert search for Emily

‘I don’t know anything, anymore’ followed by Jim committing suicide

Cyclic Technique

Reinforces the sorrowful mood of the moment, and conveys to the audience how much Jim has been impacted by the death of his daughter.

Scene Three-Rose, and Albert search for Emily

The zoom in on Jim's face when the body of his daughter is handed to him.

Zoom

Showed how shocked/bewildered Jim was with had happened

Scene Three-Rose, and Albert search for Emily

Theme- The power of loss Quotes/ Evidence of Technique

Technique Used

Impact of Technique

Scene Number

Rose kneeling on Emily’s grave

Birds Eye View Shot

Used to showcase how isolated, and upset Rose feels after the death of her daughter.

Scene Four- Emily’s Funeral

Rose crying constantly at the funeral.

Consistent Crying

Makes the sorrow emotions of Rose Evident

Scene Four- Emily’s Funeral

Albert’s wife singing ‘Oh, breathe me’

Language/ Song Lyric

Conveys to the audience that Aboriginal’s were willing to comply to White Australian norms such as singing a Christian hymn out of respect.

Scene Four- Emily’s Funeral

Explain how a perspective on culture, and identity has been shaped in your prescribed text ‘One Night the Moon’ directed by Rachel Perkins is a film which encapsulates different perspectives on identity, and culture. The film was set in the 1930’s. During this time there was The Great Depression, and Stolen Generations occuring. ‘One Night the Moon’ shows how these events impacted cultures, and identities. This is mainly seen through the characters of Jim Ryan, and Albert. Jim Ryan is a white Australian, who is the husband of Rose, and father of his lost daughter Emily. Whereas, Albert is an Aboriginal tracker. The themes that were present in the film are racism against the Aboriginal Australians in the 1930’s, fragility of relationships, and the power of loss. Therefore, these themes shaped the perspective of the audience as they were allowed to see Perkin’s perspective on culture, and identity, and how this was impacted by the events at the time. The theme of Racism against Aboriginal Australians was evident in Scene Two, where the search party begins. This scene consisted of Jim Ryan rejecting the expertise of the Aboriginal tracker Albert. Throughout this scene Jim Ryan in fact states “No Blacks on my land.” In this instance the racial demeanour of Jim became obvious. The tone in which he stated “No Blacks on my land” was quite aggressive. The technique of tone in this example made the animosity White Australians have towards Aboriginal Australian’s evident. This entirely allowed the audience to understand the cultural perspective white Australians had against Aboriginals in the 1930’s. The rejection of Albert impacted Albert’s identity as it prevented him from utilising his inextricable connection to land. This scene also consisted of Jim, and Albert participating in a duet singing ‘This land is mine/This land is me.’ The song depicted the juxtaposed views white Australians, and Aboriginal Australians have on land. Albert being Aboriginal has an inextricable connection to land as it is the centerpoint of his spirituality. Evidence of this is the line “This land owns me.” Albert stating this conveys to the audience that land is what shapes his identity. As a result it allows the audience to understand the Aboriginal perspective on what shapes one's identity. Jim Ryan on the other hand uses land as a way to put food on his family's table. Evidence of this is the line “I’m working hard just to make it pay.” This line is indicative of Jim using land as a means of profit to develop his individual identity. The juxtaposing views seen in the song ‘This Land is Mine/ This Land is me’ allows the different cultural perspectives on land, and the impact it has on their identity. Overall, the cultural perspective Jim Ryan had towards Aboriginals ended up impacting his own identity, as it ultimately led to the death of his daughter.

Scene Three, where Rose and Albert search for Emily showcases the theme of fragility of relationships. Prior to this Rose, had urged her husband Jim to allow Albert in on the

search. However, he remained reluctant to do so. The disappearance of her daughter was significantly impacting the personal identity of Rose. Rose decided that times were getting desperate. So she put the cultural differences aside, and approached Albert. As this was occuring Jim Ryan started to lose hope of finding his daughter. Thus the reason why he reverted back to alcohol. During this time Rose, and Albert were looking for Emily. The technique of cross cutting made the fragile relationship between Rose, and Jim obvious. Cross cutting was seen with shots of Albert, and Rose searching alternated with Jim having a breakdown. This technique suggest that the failure to find Emily has tarnished Jim’s personal identity. Whereas, Rose was desperate to find her daughter. The technique of cross cutting also allowed for the different perspectives on how the differing identities were impacted in the moment. Albert, and Rose ended up finding the dead body of Emily. Albert handed the body to Jim, and the zoom in on his face depicted how bewildered he was. At the end of the scene the cyclic technique of ‘I don’t know anything, anymore’ reinforces the perspective that Jim’s identity had been completely broken. Overall, scene three conveyed the different perspectives Jim, and Rose had in the search for Emily, and how this impacted their individual identity. The power of loss was a theme evident throughout all of ‘One Night the Moon’. However, in Scene Four which was Emily’s funeral, the audience is able to see different perspectives of how certain cultures deal with loss. The identity of Rose was significantly impacted by the loss of her daughter. This was seen through the constant crying at the funeral, and after the discovery of Emily’s body. In fact towards the end of the film there was a birds eye view shot which showed Rose kneeling, and crying on Emily’s grave. Rachel Perkins uses this technique to show how isolated Rose was in that particular moment. As a result of this technique it became evident that Rose’s identity was significantly affected. A perspective on culture was created as Albert’s wife was singing a Christian hymn ‘Oh, breathe on me.’ From this the audience can see a perspective on Aboriginal cultures, as they are seen complying to White Australian norms, by singing a Christian hymn out of respect. Albert in fact has lost his job, and possibly his daughter was taken away due to the stolen generations. Evidence of this occurring is Albert handing back his uniform, and his daughter not appearing again after the first scene. Albert handles loss through non verbal communication at the funeral, and in the midst of the search for Emily. This in itself shapes a perspective on how the Aboriginal culture deals with loss. The theme of power of loss entirely allowed the audience to grasp an understanding of the different cultural perspectives when it comes to dealing with loss.

In conclusion, ‘One Night the Moon’ directed by Rachel Perkins allows the audience to shape their perspectives on culture, and identity. These perspectives were shaped through the themes of Racism against Aboriginal Australians in the 1930’s, fragility of relationships, and the power of loss. These themes became evident through a variety of techniques including juxtaposition, cyclic structure, tone, use of song, and certain

camera shots. Entirely the techniques were effective as they shaped the perspective of the audience in regards to how different cultures react to certain situations, and how it impacts their personal, and collective identity....