Film Review: The Sapphires

The Sapphires. Rated PG (mild violence, themes, coarse language and sexual references). 99 minutes. Directed by Wayne Blair. Screenplay by Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson.

Verdict: An incandescent little jewel of a film that is as equally entertaining as it is contemplative.

It is 1968, and when four talented young Aboriginal women audition for the chance to take their singing group to Vietnam to entertain the troops, they are blissfully unaware of the life-threatening dangers that will confront them. Their collective experiences of war, death and separation will change their lives forever.

Based on Briggs’s award-winning play of the same name, and inspired by the true story of his mother Laurel and aunt Lois, The Sapphires is a sparkling little jewel of a film that not only entertains, but also provides moments of powerful contemplation focussed on the true nature of soul, matriarchy, race and the comparatively threadbare connotations of privilege. One of the film’s many dramatic highpoints – a beautiful scene where the ‘stolen’ Kay (Shari Sebbens) is welcomed home to country – is as powerful and involving a scene as all the chaotic, Vietnam war-based sequences that have preceded it.

Blair, in an extraordinarily accomplished and fearless feature film debut, wisely takes his camera (and us) right into the heart of the action – superbly accounted for by his never-less-than outstanding cast and expertly photographed by cinematographer Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah).

Chris O’Dowd (the hapless cop in Bridesmaids) is excellent as the girls’ manager Dave, while Deborah Mailman (Bran Nue Dae, Rabbit Proof Fence) delivers a formidable performance as the wound-up eldest sister Gail. Miranda Tapsell (Cynthia) and Sebbens provide excellent support as members of the group, but it is Jessica Mauboy (as lead songbird Julie) who sings up a storm – with flawless renditions of some of the most famously recognisable songs from the soul music catalogue.

Rewarded with a ten-minute standing ovation following its midnight screening at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, The Sapphires is an extraordinary achievement. Like its sibling Bran Nue Dae (2009), it celebrates our many differences, but asks that we celebrate – equally – our many similarities. Beginning with our right, and our hope, that one day we might know how it feels to truly belong. 

Pictured: Deborah Mailman and Chris O'Dowd in The Sapphires.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.