Directed by Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr
"One hundred and fifty spears, ten canoes, three wives...trouble."
Ten Canoes, the first Australian film to be shot entirely in the 
Aboriginal language, is a multi-layered tale, switching back and forth 
between a narrated, black-and-white goose hunt and a richly colourful tale. 
The structure is such that the black-and-white section, narrated by 
stalwart Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil (he was the boy in Nicholas Roeg's 
Walkabout and also featured in Peter Weir's The Last Wave, amongst many 
others) tells the tale of the hunt for geese and goose eggs in the 
Arafura swamp. This section gives the film its title, as the ten men each 
fashion a canoe using tree bark. 

The construction methods used were 
genuine, overseen by tribal elders who were recalling skills they had not 
used for fifty years. During the hunt, an older brother becomes 
concerned that his younger brother Yeeralparil (Jamie Gulpilil, son of David) 
has designs on one of his wives. He proceeds to tell his young brother 
an old tale, involving a similar situation, to prove his point "careful 
what you wish for, it may come true", that sometimes the result may not 
be what you were expecting. As the storyteller says "It's a good story, 
this story I'm gonna be tellin' you 'bout the ancient ones. There's 
more wrong love in this story, and plenty spears too, and plenty 
wives...too many wives if you ask me...a beautiful young one and a bit of a 
jealous one and the older wise one and even more wives than that."
One (of three) of the wives of Ridjimira (Crusoe Kurrdal) goes missing, 
setting into motion a chain of events involving his younger brother 
Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil again), magic, rival tribes, an unknown traveller 
and application of the Aboriginal law. The tone is often light, 
although some of the spear injuries are unexpectedly bloody. Perhaps the pace 
is a little slow, but the experience is never less than interesting, 
providing a window into the Aboriginal world - a funeral dance scene is 
especially eye-opening. The greatest strength of the move is Ian Jones' 
gorgeous cinematography bringing out the striking natural browns and 
greens in the colour sections, and beautiful monochrome compositions in 
the narrated scenes.
Although the story itself is perhaps similar to other folk takes, the 
presentation is excellent, making this a film which will teach you a few 
things, offering a rare experience of the Aboriginal way of life that 
is never patronising or exploitative.
Seen at Odeon West End, London Film Festival, 1 November 2006