When you sit down to talk to screenwriter/director Warwick Thornton you know you are talking to a serious filmmaker, not one of these people just in the industry to make some quick cash. Alongside his producer, Kath Shelper you realise that this team make films that they believe are important and because they love it. Despite this they are understandable proud of their new film, ‘Samson & Delilah’, a film that is one of the most important films ever made in Australia, and is so good that it has generated buzz saying it will be shown at Cannes.
It is little surprise that ‘Samson & Delilah’ is such a great film. Thornton has previously proved that he is one of Australia’s top filmmakers. His short films have been shown worldwide and ‘Green Bush’ won Best Short in the Panorama section at the Berlin Film Festival, premiered at Sundance and also won an IF Award and two Dendy Awards. But Thornton hasn’t made ‘Samson & Delilah’ to win more awards, or even because the film world ‘expects’ him to now make a feature. ‘This is a really personal story for me, ‘ he explains. ‘I grew up in Alice Springs and I didn’t like school so I pretty much grew up on the street. This is a bit of a life journey. I had the opportunity to make a bit of a feature film, which is a bit of a ying-yang thing. I could make a film that says something or a typical Hollywood film. I decided to show a story that is unique. A story no one has ever seen before. I think there is a hunger for indigenous stories. People are interested but they don’t want to see it as the one sided ‘Sixty Minutes’ story. They want to see it and they should… it’s a beautiful incredible story.’
Both Thornton and Shelper are also aware that ‘Samson & Delilah’s’ unusual style may also be it’s downfall. ‘I set out not to have a lot of dialogue,’ says Thornton. ‘So many films have that Miley Cyrus-esque dialogue. You have fourteen year old kids giving these massively long monologues about love and life and it just doesn’t happen that way in the real world. When you’re a teenager it just doesn’t happen like that, you sit down, maybe try to ignore it, you certainly don’t understand it. Love starts with sparks and turns to fire’.
So how do they feel now the film is about to be released? ‘We are excited and nervous about the release,’ says Shelper. Thornton is quick to interject. ‘It is hard to put stuff out there about my own people. The stuff depicted in the film, a lot of it are our problems, not problems created by white people. It’s hard to put this on screen. But I am Australian, this is an Australian story.’
The other big risk that has been taken with ‘Samson & Deliliah’ is the casting of the lead roles. Marissa Gibson plays Delilah and Rowan McNamara plays Samson. And while Gibson has limited experience with small parts in film and television productions, Gibson had even less… having never been seen on screen before. ‘That was deliberate,’ says Thornton. ‘We wanted community kids not actors… basically these kids in an Aboriginal community and have had 14 years rehearsing there roles.’ Shelper adds, ‘This did cause us a bit of a panic. Warwick was so determined to use community kids and we were panicking that we wouldn’t find the right kids.
They need not have worried as both Gibson and McNamara are amazing in their roles and despite the fact the two young stars are two shy to do the media circus, they do offer the following about their characters. McNamara says ‘I act as Samson in the movie. Samson likes hunting, sniffing and listening to music, but not his brother’s band. Oh, and he’s lover-lover for Delilah. I like acting, but not with girls, they just wreck it. Nah, only gammon (joking).’
Gibson says ‘Delilah is a teenager who lives out bush on a community. She’s kind hearted, respects her elders. She lives with her nana who passes away – he family thinks it’s her fault and punish her with sticks). Then she meets a guy, another Aboriginal teenager Samson and then they fall in love, they don’t say it but they feel it. Aboriginal people don’t say very much, we just use body language. They go into town but have nowhere to stay because they are from out bush so they stay under the bridge in the creek. They try to get food but they don’t have money so that start to steal, and slowly Delilah becomes another person. I hope the film teaches people who don’t really know Aboriginal people that it’s different here, compared to other places, it’s hard to explain, we just live in a different world.’
Most modern films wouldn’t be able to cast two inexperienced actors in the lead roles but both Thornton and Shelper have been able to shoot ‘Samson & Delilah’ in such a way that they have been able to keep creative control of the film. ‘We stayed away from the funding bodies’, says Thornton with a grin. ‘We were offered money but we wanted to keep control. If you have millions of dollars to play with you also have a lot of people looking over your shoulder. I kept this as small as possible.’ ‘We used a lot of the same people that we used on our short film shoots,’ adds Shelper. ‘We basically had this tiny crew and this shoot that lasted just six weeks.’
So did filming in the outback take its toll on the crew? ‘Not really,’ says Thornton. ‘We were smart we had five day-a-week shoots instead of the normal six. That meant our crew could rest on weekends and come back refreshed on Monday. It means the shoot may take longer but your crew are better at what they are doing.’
I couldn’t let the interview end without asking Thornton about a rumour I heard. He laughs when I ask ‘Is it true that you really hate the writing process?’ ‘I do,’ he laughs. ‘I like to get it over and down with. I have it all in my head and I write it out on paper instead of using a computer… I write down exactly what I want to see on screen.’ Shelper also breaks out into laughter ‘What he never says when he says that is that it is then up to his wife or I to then type it out.’
The same laughter returns I mention the news that it seems the film will be showing at Cannes. ‘Everybody is saying that,’ says Shelper. ‘But to be honest we haven’t heard anything yet…we’ll probably be the last to hear.’ ‘We’re waiting for the phone call,’ laughs Thornton.
Only hours after I completed the interview ‘Samson & Delilah’ was selected to be shown at Cannes, a rare compliment for an Australian Film. Buzz Magazine would like to congratulate Warwick, Kath, Marissa, Rowan and all those who worked on the film for on this honor.
‘Samson & Delilah’ is in selected cinemas now.