For Meta-info
Key Ideas
- The conduct of colonials needs to be acknowledged. There is a need to confront past injustices.
- Australia has a history of oppression, violence and colonialism.
- The Indigenous communities are still suffering the effects of Australia’s history of oppression, violence and colonisation.
- Human beings have the capacity to behave immorally.
- Not all humans are afforded dignity and it is a struggle for some to obtain this.
- Human relationships are complex and multidimensional.
- Young males go through rite of passage - Coming of Age from a state of Innocence to Awareness.
- The vulnerability of Indigenous Australians.
- Unequal distribution of power/power relationships can lead to abuse of this power.
- Devastating impact of colonialism on Indigenous Australians’ culture and tradition.
- The conduct of the police and their power as an oppressive force.
- Prevalence of institutionalised racism.
- Marginalistaion and silencing of minority/Other.
Less Promising Ones
- Rolf de Heer as Director is probing the Australian psyche. His premise is that Australia is still a society that displays racism and dialogue needs to continue.
- Inequality is still a reality today.
- There is a need for continued consciousness raising - bringing to the fore a depiction of brutal and horrific violence that has occurred.
Key Issues
- Humanity - disregard for human life.
- History - confronting Australia’s brutal past.
- Interpretations of the past.
- The impact of a brutal past on current generations of First Nations People.
- Paternalistic policies set in place by Government and the effects on indigenous communities.
Privalleged Perspective (Post-Colonialism)
- Post Colonial perspective Post-Colonialism in Literature:
- Privileges the perspective of indigenous culture/character. Interestingly the Aboriginal tracker is positioned as the central figure: he speaks the first line and last ines in the text.
- He does not simply follow orders and is recognised by The Fanatic for his skill and role), but actively drives, directs and controls elements of the film’s narrative. He is in control of the story.
- Privileges the perspective of the ‘invaded’ rather than the ‘invader’.
- Privileges impact of past government policies and attitudes.
- Perspective of filmmaker Rolf de Heer in relation to Australia’s treatment of Indigenous people.
- Perspective of The Follower.
Characters
- The Tracker an aborigine who will lead them to their quarry, also an aborigine.
- The Follower a greenhorn new to the territory
- The Veteran A older man of few words
- The Fanatic A Merciless officer
Plot Summary
The aboriginal man
- The horse gets stabbed by a spear, they fire guns in all directions, the Tracker smirks.
- The horse falls down a cliff (i think), they decide to push on without the food & ammunition that the horse had.
- Symbolic Burning of the Ukelele (loss of innosense) with POIGANT organ music
All men choose - The Tracker
The Fugitive
Some men are prone to mis adventure, questions of guilt are not always clear. some men run from a fate they cant avoid, all men choose the path they walk ^fugitive-path-they-walk
The Veteran
Some can’t be faulted for their reasons. failing to justly intervene. Some men hide from the memories that haunt, all men choose the path they walk. ^veteran-path-they-walk
The Follower
Some men see everything through duty. Cast off responsibility. Some regret their courage sometimes fails, All men choose the path they walk. ^follower-path-they-walk
music begins to get more upbeat.
The Fanatic
Some men have attitude thats righteous. Care not about the consequence. Some men fight with the violence inside. All men choose the path they walk ^fanatic-path-they-walk
The Tracker
Some men have reached their destination. Finding their own serenity. Some men lead others till they recognise, That all men choose the path they walk. ^tracker-path-they-walk
The First Massacure
The Fanatic: “Does anybody want to speak to me here?” “Does anybody want to talk.” “HOW YOU, CAME TO BE, IN POSSESSION? IN POSSESSION? OF POLICE UNIFORM?” “THIS, THIS UNIFORM”
Post-First Massacure
Large amount of silence. “WEll spoken” “Great to finally have a comrade who speaks english” “These are your best friends out here, and you must use them to” “Sic Transit gloria mundi” “So passes the glorious world” < same thing the tracker says to fanatic “Their cannibals very treaturous! you have to be firm with ‘em they’ll kill a white man in broad daylight” “kid, the government employs me for a certain duty, they supply me with men, rifles, revolvers and ammunition in abundance, and they expect me to use them, for the betterment of the country”.
“you shouldn’t have killed those natives” < the veteran
“No such thing as an innoocent black, the only innnocent black is a dead black” - The (black) tracker
the significance of the painting; Scenes of violence on aboriginal people are not shown, but instead represented through a painting. This impacts the audience as we are presented with Extradiagetic Audio (maybe) of the scene taking place, with a visual representation that does not move, allowing us to contemplate it.
I’m pretty sure “The Leader” / “The Fanatic” (the old dude) doesnt get a painting to represent his death, likely due to him not being aboriginal.
- “He understands what you cant, because he’s a white man”
The follower segregates himself from the rest of the group, at the campfire, he appears as if he is in his own world. He wanders out into the bush in the middle of the night, he says “Hello”, the tracker disapperared, he tells the fanatic, who hits him, and immediatly assuems he will come back with mroe to kill them.
Tracker in Chains
“The black tracker he just disappeared” Fanatic smacks Follower “What are we gonna do now?” - The Follower “Don’t worry he’ll be back, just dont know with how many others…” - the fanatic “Hey white-fella bush tucka boss” - The Tracker “I don’t know what your up to, but your not doing it again” - The Fanatic “Fasten him to a tree.” - The fanatic
“I’m Sorry” - The Veteran#contrition “Sorry? wanna feel sorry for someone feel sorry for the pack-horse, now theres an innocent victim. ” - The Fanatic “but this one, don’t waste your sentiment on him, he wouldn’t appreciate it”#contrition - The Fanatic
The fanatic chains up the tracker to a tree when he comes back with bush tucka which the tracker only did to help them. The Veteran feels sorry for the tracker when he chains him up.
“We can no longer roam lands, we are all chained” (not sure what happened after that)
“We are no longer free” “We live bound by chains” “No more our lands wandering” “Is this where we’re going to?” “People who… in chains”
“Chained like a dog” - Music “now i see them” - Tracker “Worse then a dog” - Music “plenty trouble coming boss” - Tracker “whats that mean” - Fanatic “that mean plenty trouble coming” - Tracker “musical aboriginal language”
The Follower questions the tracker
Fanatic: “Whats your problem”
Follower: “You don’t honestly believe him do you?” “Anyone can see he’s not really tracking”, “He’s just following hisn ose and hoping for the best”
Fanatic: Is that right? follower nods in reply. Fanatic: *Speaks in aboriginal language* Tracker: *Replies in aboriginal language* Fanatic: “He’ll show you” Fanatic: “Well geto ff your horse he’s not gonna climb up with you” Cuts to veteran close-up, then back again
Tracker: “There, boss” Cuts to fanatic watching them, then cuts back again Follower: There where? I don’t see anything Tracker: “That stone been missing” Follower: mockingly “There’s millions of stones” Tracker: “There, that stone belong there, boss” “It’s been kicked away about two hours ago” “Nearly dry now.”
Follower: “Is that all you need?” Tracker: “It’s enough, Plenty sign like this” medium close-up of tracker & fanatic both looking towards the camera, Follower with a shocked expression, and the tracker looking calm / knowledgeable Follower: “Sorry.”
the veteran is hit by a spear and cant call out to them, they continue on without realising he’s gone.
In the image the tracker is not in chains it doesnt look like,
“how can we be ever be free” “if we let the white man be” “its a contradiction” “its a contradiction, if your black man” “its a contradiction” “its a contradiction, if your white man”
“Don’t you have to look after your men” - the follower (the tracker smiles at this) “you can’t sentence a man to certain death to capture a black fella” - the folower the fanatic threatens him with a gun if he does not come
“Cant believe here life matters none” “I’d like to be” “far away home”
The tracker hsa stopped moving to allow the veteran to catch up, the fanatic whips and shoots in his direction, but the follower interjects and says he wont move, and then goes to get the follower, this shows the transition of power from the fanatic to the the tracker since he is the one they need to find the person their searching for.
the fanatic kills the veteran in his sleep (he was dying due to spear) though he kills him just so they can’t make them ensure he keeps up. (since the tracker threatened to stop tracking if they left him behind)
picture shows the veteran killing him with a hot stick, the tracker sees this occur.
The drowning Scene
the tarcker pulls the fanatic into the water, by the chain that the fanatic had around his hand, and was attached to the trackers neck. the tracker tries to push him under to kill him. but they both get out of the water.
“no hard feeling boss” - the tracker in response to being threatened to be shot by the fanatic with a gun.
The Second Massacure
- They stroll up to another aboriginal camp, completely unprovoked the fanatic starts shooting.
- The follower points his gun at the head of the fanatic, “Drop the gun”
- “They are innocent women and children, drop the gun”
- “DROP THE GUN”
- “get off your house”
- “go over there”
- “MOVE” the follower is extremely shaky, but he now has the most power, being the only one on the horse.
represents the old ideology that ruled the world prior being overthrown by original
”I’ll have you for this” - The fanatic ”I’m your superior officer” - The fanatic
”This is mutiny” - The fanatic
Follower says some more stuff to him, reference back, but he appears much more confident after this, and took off his jacket so he appears like the leader did / does.
The tracker goes over to an elder. the tracker begins to cries / quietly sobs over a body, he pulls the fanatic off the horse, and holds him there, and shows him what he has done. - the fanatic just says ”they’ll give me a medal for it”
The Hanging
Later on the tracker gets “White fella bush tucka boss!”, there is someone else there while he gathers food, he “poisons” the follower’s food, keeping him unconcious while the tracker kills the fanatic in the dead of night.
Leadup to the Hanging
the tracker acts as a “Judge and Jury”,
Sic transit gloria mundi = So passes the glorious world Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis = I absolve you from your sins
The following scene has a song, and the sun ising behind the fanatic’s corpse, the white man’s shadow is projected into the area around him, the shadows are black, and there are multiple of them, representign the aboriginals that he killed & hanged at the beginning of the movie.
Hanging Scene Transcript
- The Tracker: “You are charged with the mruder of innocent people.”
- The Tracker: “How do you plead”^tracker-judicial-terminology
- The Fanatic: “Who the hell are you?” The Tracker: “On behalf of my people, and all of my people” “I’m your judge and jury” The Fanatic: “Wake up! Wake Up!” The Tracker:
(Symbolism to how Fanatic knows that the australian courts will find the aboriginals guilty automatically)
“I find you guilty as charged” “By your actions, you’ve forgeited the right to live” “Among your fellow humans” “I sentence you to hang by the neck until dead.” Fanatic: “You can’t do that!” Tracker: “Sic transit gloria mundi”
Translates to ”Thus passes the glory of the world.”
Filmic Codes used in Image
Low Camera Angle, looking up at the fanatic as if he is still in his position of power. This is juxtaposed to his body language, indicating helplessness as he is about to be hang. This calls back to the
Tracker: ”Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis” Translates to: ”I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” ^tracker-speaks-latin
Symbolism of the latin phrases
When the fanatic says “You can’t do that” the tracker he is referring to the trackers lack of authority to be his ”Judge and Jury”. The Tracker responds with latin phrases most commonly associated with the church, and is used in the british court (the colonisers) This makes it clear he is mirroring the british court system, subtly referencing how they do not have the authority to murder the aboriginal people.
Song: “You have taken my country” “Fought me, killed me, Exterminated by my hand” “I have lost all my being” “Empty, derided, forsaken in what was my land.” “And I can never return” “Until theres contrition” Contrition meaning to show ”remorse” and “penitent” penitent meaning; “person who repents their sins and (in the Christian Church) seeks forgiveness”
Forgiveness
Re-occuring theme of forgiveness, despite the british view of the aboriginals as savages & despite the murder of his people (see The Second Massacure), his people only wish to live on their land
“I still long for my country” “I still remember the spirit that lives in my hand” “But i can only forgive” “When there is contrition”
How does this show justice and morality
This meta-info provides key ideas, issues, and perspectives present in the film “The Tracker.” Some of the key ideas include the acknowledgement of past injustices, the impact of colonization on Indigenous Australians, the complexity of human relationships, and the prevalence of institutionalized racism. The key issue explored is humanity’s disregard for human life and the consequences of a brutal past. The privileged perspective presented is the post-colonial perspective, which focuses on Indigenous culture and the impact of government policies. The characters include the Tracker, the Follower, the Veteran, and the Fanatic. The plot revolves around the Tracker leading a group to capture a fugitive, but it delves deeper into the history and effects of colonialism. The drowning scene, the hanging scene, and the second massacre are significant moments in the film. The use of symbolism, such as paintings and Latin phrases, adds depth and meaning to the narrative. The film raises questions about justice and morality in the context of Australia’s history.
Post-hanging
The tracker takes over control, he says they ‘shouldn’t stir up the black fellas anymore” when the follower suggests they take him down and bury him.
“we gotta go after the black fella boss… now.” - the tracker
“too many blackfellas around ere boss we betta keeep goin” - the tracker in response the the followers plead to stop and take a rest.
A bunch of aboriginals surround them. “you do what i tell you to do, and yo udont do anythign i dont tell you to do, that way you survive”
1:26 - The tracker kills the blackfella they were chasing, because he raped a white women.
This is symbolic of how the tracker didn’t trust the follower to kill one of his own (the fanatic), where as the tracker is willing to stab the blackfella the ytracked, who is also aboriginal for what he did.
consider that at the time, if anyone is killed, they usually just assume it was a aboriginal person.
The Justice
“He says he not kill a white women boss.” “Him far away, when she killed.”
“We should take him in.., we have to take him in, he can tell that to the court” - the Follower “Court already find him guilty boss. Blackfella” ^1922-Australia-Injustice “He’s telling the truth anyway” - the tracker …
the tracker strikes “the fugitive” with a spear
gasp “Why?, why’d you do that? you said he was innocent” - the Follower “Tribal Justice boss, broken the law, aboriginal law” “Back at the waterhole, with the women, he rape her. she’s the wrong skin for him.” “but your a christian, I heard you give absolution” “god respect aboriginal law as much as he respect white fellas law” “maybe more” “now if you wanna stay alive, you better be quiet, and follow me”
… later
- “my land is far away boss, but always I can find it”
- “I wonder who did kill that women?”
- “Prob’ly a white fella boss, they are a murderous, shify, thieving.. dishonest mob! cant trust ‘em one bit! <laughing>”