The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1978 movie directed by Fred Schepisi.
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith tells the story of a half Aboriginal, half White man who endures a series of racist encounters. Eventually, he takes brutal revenge on those who wronged him and finds himself the target of a manhunt.
Jimmie Blacksmith has to rank among the most heartbreaking characters in movie history – or at least the most complex. He’s uniquely positioned as someone you both feel empathy and contempt for.
He’s the product of an aboriginal mother and white father – which gains him entry to two starkly opposing worlds. He’s taken under the wing of a Christian missionary, who bails him out of jail and provides him references for employment. Jimmie’s goal is to work hard, marry and own a piece of land. However, those series of jobs reveal the ugly realities of the white world – a place that ultimately rejects Jimmie.
Jimmie endures constant racial harrassment and is continually cheated out of money. Yet, he rationalizes this treatment as part of his dues to join the white world. Along the way, he becomes a sheriff’s deputy and brutally assaults aboriginals during a murder investigation. After he realizes the drunk sheriff rapes and kills the prime suspect, Jimmie is forced to burn the body.
Yet, Jimmie endures and eventually marries Gilda, a white woman who works for the farming Newby’s- accomplishing one of his goals. She gives birth to a fully white baby and then admits that Jimmie is not the father. However, Jimmie remains with her – despite the objections of the Newby’s, who try to convince Gilda to leave him. Finally, when the Newby’s cut off Gilda from groceries – Jimmie snaps.
He threatens Mr. Newby before visiting Mrs. Newby, along with his aboriginal Uncle. Mrs. Newby pulls a rifle on him. In either an act of rage or self-defense, Jimmie buries an axe in her chest. He then proceeds to murder all of the Newby adult children, before sparing the family toddler.
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