Oftentimes, what is less speaks more. No dialogues, except
when necessary. A small and novice cast. A rural setting, with scarce landscape
and small neighborhood. However, it speaks a universal theme that touches
everyone’s heart – love. And with this complicated journey towards true love
and new life, Samson and Delilah takes us into a story that will urge us to
reassess the things we value and cared about.
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Samson and Delilah is a 2009 Australian film directed by
Warwick Thornton. It tells the love story of two 14-year-olds who live in an
Aboriginal community near Alice Springs. The movie opens by relaying to the
audience the daily routines of these two teens. For Samson, they include living
in a run-down shelter with his brother’s band playing reggae music all day,
sniffing petrol every morning, and being interested with Delilah, following her
around and throwing rocks at her. For Delilah, these rituals include taking
care of her ill grandmother, wheeling her to the local health clinic, and
helping her produce the folk art canvasses.
Here, the movie introduces us to two distinct cultural practices
of indigenous people in Australia: huffing and printing. Huffing is inhaling of
chemicals (in the movie, it is petrol or gasoline) for hallucinogenic effect.
This has become a long-faced problem in impoverished Aboriginal communities in
Australia, particularly in the youths. For Samson, the effects would include
dancing on high with his brother’s music. On the brighter side, printing or
creating art posters using paints has become a source of living for many
Aborigines. In the movie, however, white dealers exploit the native by buying
these arts at a cheap price and selling them at gallery shops with a huge
mark-up.
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In the beginning, Delilah is shown as having no interest
with Samson. As Samson is persistent with his courtship, Delilah begins to fall
for him and she is seen at one point secretly watching Samson from inside a car
while the other was dancing half-naked. Pivotal events soon take place in the
sleepy community. Samson is hit and beaten by his brother after one of his mad
fits. The same happened to Delilah; the whole community beats her with sticks
as she is blamed for the death of her grandmother, supposedly because of her
neglect. Samson comes to the rescue, and after stealing the community’s car,
they head into Alice Springs where they lived under a bridge with a homeless
man.
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