Movies
Storm Boy
- Director
-
Henri Safran
- Genre
- DramaExplore more genres
- Year
- 1976
- Duration
- 85 min
Synopsis
Storm Boy tells the story of a 10-year-old boy, called Mick by his father Tom, and Storm Boy by the Aboriginal loner Fingerbone he befriends. This boy is growing up in an isolated corrugated iron shed next to a wildlife sanctuary. He lives with his father, who supports them by fishing alone. He is not attending school; he is illiterate and ignorant.
Mick's father resents any intrusion of their secluded life, be it a washed-up radio or a mob of idiot bird shooters who kill a number of birds before they are scared off by Fingerbone.
Amongst the dead are some pelicans whose chicks are still in the nest. The boy brings them home to care for. His father isn't keen, but permits it. Three pelicans become a lot to feed when they reach maturity, so his father insists on releasing them. Two are never seen again, but one, Mr Percival, keeps coming back.
Another intruder is the new primary school teacher, brought by the park ranger. She is concerned about the boy's education, and pushes hard for him to be sent to school, or at least to do schoolwork by correspondence. She means well, but she is resented by the father - he doesn't want anything to change in their reclusive life.
This is such a classic. I saw it first as a child and then the other night as an adult and I just thought it was magnificent. The way the Aboriginal is portrayed remains modern even after a few decades. It is brilliant stuff.
— Bradley McDonell [1]
Thanks to Erin Morris for pointing me to this movie.
Storm Boy 2019 trailer
In 2019 Storm Boy was re-released with Aboriginal actor Trevor Jamieson playing Fingerbone Bill and David Gulpilil his father.
Details
- Cast
- Greg Rowe - Mick (son)
Peter Cummings - Tom (father)
David Gulpilil - Aboriginal loner Fingerbone Bill
Judy Dick - Primary school teacher Miss Walker
Tony Allison - Park ranger
Michael Moody - Boatmaster
Graham Dow - Edwards
Eric Mack - Jones
Frank Foster-Brown - Lynch
Michael Caulfield - Hunter
Paul Smith - Hunter
Hedley Cullen - Marina Manager - Release dates
- 18 November 1976 - Australia (Fair Lady Theatre)
1977 - outside Australia
10 January 2019 - Australia (new version; St. George OpenAir Cinema) - Video/DVD release date
- 1991 (video), 2001 (DVD)
- Awards
- Golden Tripod, ACS Awards 1977 (Best Cinematography, feature film) MILLI Award, Best Overall Cinematography 2 awards, Moscow Children's Film Festival 1977 3 awards Tehran Children's Film Festival 1977 2 awards for Films portraying living creatures, and protection of animals 2 Australian Film Institute Awards 1977 Best Film, AFI Awards 1977 Jury Prize, AFI Awards 1977
- Rating
- G - general
- Distributor
- Southern Star
- Soundtrack
- Michael Carlos
- Notes
Storm Boy is based on a book by Colin Thiele, published in 1963. Colin died of heart complications on September 4, 2006 in Queensland.
The film cost only A$260,000 to produce.
Storm Boy is one of the first Australian films to be distributed in Japan.
Storm Boy is a movie for children and families and since its release has been widely used in English classrooms around Australia.
The 2019 version was reimagined for a contemporary audience, with environmental conservation taking centre stage throughout the film and was set in the Coorong, South Australia.
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