The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) on Netflix
Jimmie Blacksmith, raised by a reverend in early twentieth century Australia, leaves with a letter of recommendation to find work. His employers cheat him and use him against other Aboriginals.
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- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.3/102,863 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jimmie Blacksmith has an Aboriginal mother and a white father, and the Reverend Neville and his wife Martha raise him, hoping their influence will win him a place in early twentieth century Australian society. With their letter of recommendation he seeks work. Healey shortchanges him over fence building and refuses to write him a reference. Constable Farrell employs him against other Aboriginals. On the Newby farm he finds steadier work, sends for his girlfriend Gilda Marshall and marries her; she arrives pregnant and gives birth to a white child. When Jimmie's half-brother Mort and uncle Tabidgi join him at the fencing, Mr. Newby uses their presence to withhold his pay and provisions, and Mrs. Newby and the schoolteacher Miss Graf urge Gilda to take the baby and leave him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was never prosecuted for obscenity in Britain, but the film was seized and confiscated there under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
- Director Fred Schepisi's wife spotted Tommy Lewis at Tullamarine simply walking past; he was approached and eventually cast in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.
- Although critically acclaimed, the film lost A$179,000, and the reception so disillusioned director Fred Schepisi that he left Australia for Hollywood soon after, returning ten years later to make Evil Angels.
- Fred Schepisi said American audiences regarded the film as a Western, and that this led to him being offered the chance to direct a Western himself.
