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Review: The Drover’s Wife: the Legend of Molly Johnson

<p><em>Review: The Drover’s Wife: the Legend of Molly Johnson, written and directed by Leah Purcell, Sydney Film Festival</em></p> <p>Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife: the Legend of Molly Johnson is an inspired and compelling re-imagining of Henry Lawson’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9363188-the-drover-s-wife" target="_blank">The Drover’s Wife</a>, a short story originally published in The Bulletin in 1892.</p> <p>Purcell’s debut feature film as writer and director, filmed in late 2019, has emerged out of a lifelong connection with this story. Citing three generations of drovers in her own family, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82A3wzwKWOI" target="_blank">Purcell explained in a recent interview</a> how, as a five-year-old girl, she would implore her mother to read Lawson’s story to her. For Purcell, it was, “the first time I used my imagination and saw myself in a story”.</p> <p>As her mother recited, Purcell would imagine a “little film in my head”. In it, she was the little boy in the story and her mother the drover’s wife.</p> <p>Purcell has been repeatedly drawn to The Drover’s Wife as a way of placing her Indigenous family’s story before a broad Australian audience. The film expands on the acclaimed stage play she wrote and starred in, <a rel="noopener" href="https://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-drovers-wife/" target="_blank">which premiered at Belvoir Street Theatre in 2016</a> and won the Victorian prize for literature, two NSW premier’s literary awards and four Helpmann awards. She also adapted the play into a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-drovers-wife-9780143791478" target="_blank">novel, released in 2019</a>.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TltTxxIqv4U?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>In all three versions of the story, set in 1893 in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, Purcell gives voice to Indigenous experiences of the frontier that were maligned and marginalised in Lawson’s version.</p> <p>As in the play, the film is carried by its Indigenous co-stars. Purcell plays the drover’s wife, Molly Johnson, unearthing an Indigenous heritage for the character. Johnson is burdened by a dark secret and Purcell imbues the role with a determined strength, her posture and gaze expressing fortitude, grit and constant vigilance, whether she is carrying her broom or her rifle.</p> <p>Rob Collins plays Yadaka, a character inspired by Purcell’s great-grandfather, Tippo Charlie Chambers, a caring and gentle man who spent time as a travelling circus performer in the 1890s while yearning for his Country.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430929/original/file-20211108-19-11q4cdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430929/original/file-20211108-19-11q4cdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <em><span class="caption">Yadaka (Rob Collins), left, is central to this reworked story.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bunya Productions, Oombarra Productions</span></span></em></p> <p>Yadaka is central to Purcell’s reworking of the original story, fleshed out from the brief mention of a “stray blackfellow” who chops some wood for the drover’s wife in Lawson’s version.</p> <p>In the film, the fugitive Yadaka arrives at the heavily pregnant Molly’s isolated property and ultimately saves her life when her labour goes wrong, helping her to bury her stillborn child. But Yadaka is a wanted man, blamed for the murder of a white family in town. This sets off an unfortunate chain of events.</p> <p>Yadaka also unlocks Molly’s understanding of her Indigenous family, paving the way for her children to escape from becoming wards of the state. The strong bond the drover’s wife has with her children in Lawson’s original story is deepened in Purcell’s film. Molly is driven to protect her children from the authorities and to overcome violence and hardship.</p> <p>Molly’s eldest son Danny – played by Malachi Dower-Roberts, who <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82A3wzwKWOI" target="_blank">Purcell joyfully describes</a> as a “red-haired freckled Blackfella from Glebe” – functions as a figure of hope in the film.</p> <p>He forms a bond with Yadaka, taking responsibility for guiding his siblings to safety. The absence of the drover himself, Jo Johnson, meanwhile, is attributed to his being a violent drunk and an abuser, rather than the heroic, pioneering figure imagined by Lawson.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430931/original/file-20211108-17-wm8elz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430931/original/file-20211108-17-wm8elz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <em><span class="caption">Molly Johnson is driven to protect her children.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bunya Productions, Oombarra Productions</span></span></em></p> <p>The film was shot in and around Adaminaby. Cinematographer Mark Wareham captures the beauty and harshness of the rolling hills and valleys of this vast, alpine landscape, from dusty clearings to lush greenery and stark, white snow.</p> <p>Foreboding, enveloping mists are rendered by the time-lapse photography of Murray Fredericks. The beauty and menace of this landscape frame the film’s harrowing violence. The final closeup shots are especially chilling.</p> <p><strong>Violent realities</strong></p> <p>Purcell’s is not, of course, the first re-imagining of Lawson’s story. In 2017, Frank Moorhouse brought together a collection of its numerous literary reworkings in <a rel="noopener" href="https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/review/the-drovers-wife-wives-frank-moorhouse-ryan-oneill/" target="_blank">The Drover’s Wife: A Celebration of a Great Love Affair</a>, including the writer and director’s notes from Purcell’s original play.</p> <p>But Purcell’s cinematic version of the story exemplifies what Felicity Collins and Therese Davis describe in their book <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/media-mass-communication/australian-cinema-after-mabo?format=HB&amp;isbn=9780521834803" target="_blank">Australian Cinema After Mabo</a> as a process of “cinematic backtracking”. Familiar figures and archetypes are revived and reworked, opening up new meanings and interpretations.</p> <p>In recent years, we have witnessed a surge of interest in the archetypes, themes and aesthetics of the Western in Australian cinema with films like The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005), Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton, 2017), The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent, 2018) and High Ground (Stephen Johnson, 2020). All suggest a growing reckoning with the violent realities of our frontier history.</p> <p>Purcell’s film is part of this turn.</p> <p>By bringing her personal history and identity as a Black woman to bear on the Australian Western, Purcell has enriched this burgeoning film cycle.</p> <p>The way that Purcell’s Molly Johnson endures in this film is both inspiring and heartbreaking. This is a subversive survival story that brings an unflinching new perspective to Australian cinema’s ongoing engagement with the frontier.</p> <p><em>The Drover’s Wife will be in cinemas May 2022.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170782/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/megan-carrigy-1283895" target="_blank">Megan Carrigy</a>, Associate Director, Academic Programs, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/new-york-university-1016" target="_blank">New York University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/the-drovers-wife-the-legend-of-molly-johnson-brings-a-black-womans-perspective-to-australian-frontier-films-170782" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: <span>Bunya Productions, Oombarra Productions</span></em></p>

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“Australia’s youngest parents” welcome second child at the age of 16

<p>Couples twice their age still aren’t ready for kids, but 16-year-olds Mollie and Oscar have been parents for almost two years now.</p> <p>Mollie Syrigos and Oscar Wilks made headlines in 2016 when they found out they were expecting their first child at the age of just 13, making Mollie one of the youngest mums in Australian history.</p> <p>She gave birth at 14 to a boy named Theodore (now almost two years old) and in December welcomed the couple’s second child, a girl named Delilah Lilli.</p> <p>At the time she discovered her second pregnancy (which, like the first, wasn’t planned), Mollie told <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/9stories/2017/05/24/15/26/melbourne-teen-mum-pregnant-with-second-baby-at-15" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">9 News</span></strong></a> she and Oscar were excited for a new addition to their family.</p> <p>“I know it will be a huge challenge but I’m prepared for that challenge. When you love something so much challenges sort of make you stronger and I’m ready for the challenges and very excited for the new baby to come.”</p> <p>Mollie is also quick to shut down any criticism of teen parents, saying it was actually very common. In 2015, 2,641 teenagers became mothers.</p> <p>“Just because I’m physically 15, my head is in a different place. I feel a lot older than 15,” she said last year. “No age defines how well you parent. There’s 30-year-old ice junkie mums out there. I’m doing as best as I can and my son is happy and so is my partner and I think that’s the main thing.”</p> <p>The couple live with Oscar’s dad, who has multiple sclerosis, and help care for him. Mollie, who would have started Year 11 this year, is taking Swinburne University of Technology’s secondary school classes for young mothers. Oscar, who says his partner is a “genius” and will go a long way, is a full-time apprentice tradie.</p> <p>But as much as they love their two bubs, the 16-year-olds have some advice for other kids their age.</p> <p>“Look, if I had anything to say about being so young and having a baby, it would be this – hold on to your childhood as long as you can,” Oscar told the Herald Sun. “If it happens and you become a parent, just be the best parent you can be.”</p> <p>What do you think about this young 16-year-old Aussie couple having two children under the age of two? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. </p>

Family & Pets

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Mum’s open letter after losing her newborn will break your heart

<p>In February 2015, Meagen Gries welcomed her “beautiful, smiley, vivacious” daughter Molly into the world. Ten weeks later, however, Molly was gone and Meagen was left utterly heartbroken.</p> <p>Her baby had tragically suffocated to death after being swaddled and placed on her side in a pack-n-play that had blankets in the bottom.</p> <p>Now, in an emotional open letter shared with <a href="https://au.be.yahoo.com/lifestyle/parenting/a/37534840/mum-s-heartbreaking-open-letter-after-newborn-s-accidental-death/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Yahoo7 Be</span></strong></a>, Meagen is urging other parents (and grandparents) to be aware of the popular baby product’s dangers.</p> <p>“Dear mums and dads of babies,” she begins. “How are you? That’s a silly question. I know how you are. You’re deliriously in love with that sweet baby of yours but also delirious with exhaustion. These first few months are hard. Really hard. But I don’t need to tell you that. You’ve probably found yourself entering into what I refer to as ‘survival mode’. You know it – the place you find yourself when you’re so tired you don’t know up from down and you will do anything to get some sleep and feel like yourself again. Right? I get it because I’ve been there," she wrote. </p> <p>“But can I tell you a secret? Your baby will sleep. It’s true. I didn’t believe it either. But it happens. Slowly at first, and then all of a sudden they're sleeping and you look back and think, 'Man, that was hard. But we did it.'</p> <p>“How do I know this? Because I’ve lived it. Three times to be exact. With my first two I used every trick in the book. Everything you’re ‘not supposed to do’ because I was in that survival mode. And I needed sleep and I convinced myself those ‘no-no’s’ were the only way I was going to get it. So, they slept next to me in my bed. There were blankets in their cribs. They slept in things they weren’t supposed to – car seats, swings, bouncers. It didn’t matter to me, so long as they were sleeping!" Meagen shared. </p> <p>“But then… my ten-week-old daughter died. Not with me, but at her daycare. That part doesn’t matter because the way she died – swaddled, in a crib with blankets under her – could’ve easily happened with me or my husband," she heartbreakingly revealed.  </p> <p>“Her name is Molly, and she should still be here. I dropped her off for her first day of daycare after my ten-week maternity leave and returned to my classroom of first grade students who were so excited to have their teacher back. Everything went great until lunchtime when I sat down to inhale my turkey sandwich and pump my breastmilk," Meagen said. </p> <p>“That’s when I got the call. ‘She’s not breathing. They took her to the hospital.’ After thrusting the pumped milk at a co-worker and screaming inaudible directions at my boss, I sprinted out the door. One excruciatingly long drive later, I arrived at the hospital to be met by a social worker. She escorted me to a small, white room where an ugly lamp, a scratchy wool couch and a box of tissues were waiting for me," the mum wrote. </p> <p>“‘So... how old is Owen?’ She asked with fake interest. I ignored her. I was too busy trying to convince myself that this wasn’t happening. It didn’t work. It was happening. Then a teary physician walked in and rushed through saying, ‘She came in with no pulse. We tried to restart her heart and were not successful. We’re very sorry.’”</p> <p>Meagen added, “And as I slid off the chair onto the floor, my world ended.”</p> <p>She continued, “The rest became a blur. Calling my husband who was out of town and telling him his little girl was gone. Walking into a small, dimly lit room where my cold, lifeless daughter was handed to me. Rocking her and sobbing into her fine hair. Telling her older brother his sister wasn’t coming home. Picking out a casket for her. Deciding what clothes she would be buried in. Sitting numbly through her funeral where everyone told me how very sorry they were and that they’re praying for us. And saying goodbye as they lowered her into the ground.”</p> <p>Meagen shared, “It’s the worst thing you can go through. It’s been two years and I still cannot believe this is real life. I wake up many mornings and think it was a bad dream. A really bad dream. But it wasn’t, and Molly should be here.”</p> <p>But good news was to come. “A year after losing Molly, we welcomed her little sister Emma. Molly passed away May 4th, 2016. Emma was due May 4th, 2017, and she was born on the 5th. When she came, my husband and I decided that no matter what, she would sleep safely. We’d follow all the rules this time. And let me tell you, it was tough. There were some long nights. Not a lot, but a few. But we made it through. And now Emma is a year-and-a-half-old and she’s never known those comforts that we convinced ourselves Owen and Molly needed. She’s only ever slept alone, on her back and in her crib and get this ... she sleeps! Like a champ!”</p> <p>The letter continues, “No one will tell you that safe sleep is always easy. If they do, they’re lying. But I can tell you without a doubt, it’s worth it. Ignore those mums and dads and grandparents and well-meaning old ladies in the grocery store who tell you they had to put their baby down on her belly or in a swing because it was ‘the only way they’d sleep!’ Your biggest priority is protecting your little one –making sure they're eating and gaining weight and that they’re healthy. This is just part of that.”</p> <p>The mum added, “Look past all the tips and tricks and products you know are risky and stay strong – something you'll do a lot of as a mum and a dad. Because babies do sleep."</p> <p>“You’ve got this,” Meagen signs off.</p> <p>The Molly Ann Gries Foundation has been set up in Molly’s honour to help raise awareness about safe sleeping. To learn more, <a href="http://www.mollyanngriesfoundation.org/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">click here</span></strong></a>.</p>

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