GULPILIL: ONE RED BLOOD (2002) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Darlene Johnson
A documentary portrait of Australian actor David Gulpilil, whose charismatic presence in dozens of movies had a profound effect on how Aborigines are perceived and depicted in the country's culture, and in particular in its films. For all his fame and stature in the industry, Gulpilil probably lived the least affluent and least glamorous existence of any movie star ever, and the film is about anthropology as much as cinema, with its subject spending most of his time away from movie projects in the primitive outback settlement he called home. That makes this useful for the cultural background it provides - the idea apparently was Gulpilil's own - but a more comprehensive look at his movies would be nice, too. Starting with "Walkabout" in 1970, Gulpilil's career on the screen lasted almost 50 years. He retired in 2019 and died in 2021, age unknown.
