Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
Cinematography
Vast Coorong sand dunes that swallow human scale whole
Acting
David Gulpilil's magnetic, wordless presence
Practical Effects
Actual trained pelicans being absolute menaces
Director
Henri Safran
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
David Gulpilil was already famous from Walkabout (1971); this cemented him as the face of Australian cinema's Indigenous representation, however complicated.
The pelican actors were so poorly behaved that one stole a sandwich from the director's mouth mid-scene—kept in the final cut.
AU
