Far away in another life...
I walked my land, proud and free...
Far away from my other life...
Searching alone...
Far away from home.
Far away in those distant lands...
Life's hard, but living is good
There the hunt
leaves no blood on mine...
there I rode home...
Where the sun warmed
the deepest fold...
and the rain sleeps
on rocks so old...
And the night falls
and stories told...
I'd like to be...
...wandering free.
But they don't know
the pain in me...
'cause they can't know
what I can see...
I'm surrounded by a misery...
I'd like to be...
Always free...
Far away home...
Far away in another land...
I walked my saunt proud and free...
Now I'm torn from
that distant land...
I'm going home.
About half a day ahead, Boss.
And he's gettin' tired.
tell me when it gets too dark
C'mon...get going!
O.K. Boss...
Like this?
He doesn't believe him, does he?
He believes him.
C'mon Boss!
Here...
My mother is a lady
She lives in Aralagrand
My father is Chief Justice
He rules over all the land
And I'm just a copper
Who roams over rocks and sand
Shut that, will you!
It's "The Copper's Lament"
It's doggerel.
They could be all around...
we wouldn't hear them.
Wouldn't hear 'em anyway.
Stealthy black buggers.
They 'round.
We'll lose him if he gets to his tribe.
Not even our dusky friend
could help us then.
No worries, Boss...
He's not from 'round here.
What's he doing here then?
Escaping natural justice.
They go into enemy territory...
to protect their own tribe...
...from the likes of us.
We won't get 'im.
They'll stay in the bush...
blacks will.
No worries, Boss.
Not get us, too.
Too right!
Bad times are here...
Trouble's comin'...
What am I doin' here?
Waiting...
Have to face up to that...
Someone like me...
Who must carry the burden...
alone.
What am I doing here?...
Waiting to stand...
Waiting only until the right time.
It turns ahead...
It sounds like some dead animal
being strangled.
Dead animals don't make sounds.
No!...they don't...
Yeah...you know what I mean...
What's up?
How far ahead is he?
He a long way, Boss.
How far?
Half a day.
Maybe more.
Chasin' shadows!
- How would he know anyway?
- He knows!
How are we ever going
to catch him?
He was half a day ahead
yesterday.
And maybe more today.
We'll catch him.
Because we won't stop
until we do.
And he'll stop.
He could be around the next bend...
fast asleep under a tree.
Yeah...right, Boss.
He's not half a day ahead...
We half a day behind.
C'mon, Boss!
We'll find a track.
Bush blackfella, Boss!
What y're asked is what you find.
Why don't we get up higher...
where the ground's more open.
Yeah...that's good...
Be easy to follow those tracks
from up there!
Oh...yeah.
Just watch your arse!
They're peaceful, Boss.
He's not there with them.
I want them alive.
Trooper's uniform.
Let's find out
what this is all about.
What a different language.
Everybody ready?
In this land long ago
We lived our own way...
Now we're no longer free...
We are dispossessed...
...people of mine.
You came to be in possession...
...of a trooper's uniform
This...this...!
...they're my people...
my people...
Well spoken!
Nice to have a cobber
that speaks English!
These are your best friends
out here...
...and you must use them, too.
Sic transit gloria mundi...
"The sun passes the glorious world".
They're cannibals...
Very treacherous...
You have to be firm with them...
They'll kill a white man
in broad daylight.
Leave him alone.
He's had enough.
Kid...the government employs me
for a certain duty...
...supply me with men, rifles
and revolvers...
...ammunition in abundance...
They expect me to use them...
...for the benefit of the country.
Too much bulldust yacking boss...
We gotta keep after
the other savage...
We'll hoist it in the morning.
It's alright, Boss.
Now it's that sting...
as an innocent Black...
The only innocent Black
is a dead Black.
Too steep...you're better
off the horses.
Dismount!
Under attack!...
The supplies...
It's gonna be half a day
getting them out of there.
We're pushing on.
Be a hungry trip, then.
Let's go!
Guns at the ready.
There's no point dwelling on it.
We're perfectly capable.
You think so, eh?
Yes I do.
But I'm not gonna let any black bastard
get the better of me.
We better keep going, Boss...
That tribe back there...
Be stirred up now...
Might be another spear...
...come flying straight through you.
Some men are prone
to misadventure...
Questions of guilt
aren't always clear...
Some men run from a state
they can't avoid...
Our men choose the path
they want.
Some can't be faulted
for their reasons...
They need to just be intervened.
Some men hide from
the memories that haunt...
Our men choose the path
they want.
Some men see everything
to duty...
Cast off responsibilities...
Some regret, yet their courage
sometimes saves.
Our men choose the path
they want.
Some men have attitude
that's righteous...
Care not about the consequence...
Some men fight with devout ends in sight.
Some men choose the path they walk
Some men have reached
their destination...
Finding their own serenity...
Some men lead others
to they'll recognise...
That all men choose
the path they walk.
Was here last night, Boss.
He had a woman with him.
See...the bloody bush-Blacks
are helping him.
I'm not sure about that, Boss...
Him and that woman
been jiggity-jig.
You know, Boss...
"Jiggity-jig!"
He's too young!
You're not telling me
everything...
How come he's still
half a day ahead?
He have no horse, Boss...
He travelled fast...
in the bush
Are we so slow that he has time
even to satisfy his unholy desires
with others of his repulsive breed?
I don't know what to say, Boss.
Did you understand what I said?
See this man...
This man...for a white man...
displays a particularly low level
of intelligence...
But he understands what you can't...
...BECAUSE he's a white man...
do you understand?
Don't get smart with me!
You're a monkey!
Yes Boss...I'm a monkey.
If I ever catch him...
...it'll be YOUR ears
I'll take back with me.
You see...you HAVE to be firm
with the natives.
Otherwise they think
you're afraid.
Then they won't hesitate
to take advantage.
He might've got hungry
back here.
Suppose you're right...
Should've kept
a better lookout.
And you shouldn't have killed
those natives.
If you're considering mutiny...
you may well be next.
No...no...
Just complaining...
As is my right.
You do know the penalty
for falling asleep at your post...
Sure you can handle it?
I'm not an idiot.
The blackfella's gone.
What?
The blacktracker...
he just disappeared.
What are we gonna do now?
Oh...don't worry...
he'll be back.
No wonder we've how many others.
Hey!...Whitefella bush tucker, Boss.
I don't know what you're up to...
but you're not doin' it again!
Fasten him to a tree!
I'm sorry...
Sorry...
You want to feel sorry
for someone?...
Feel sorry for the packhorse.
Now there's an innocent victim.
This one...don't waste
your sentiment on HIM!...
He won't appreciate it.
They were no longer free...
We lived bound by chains...
No more our lands...wandering
This where we're going to...
I see something, Boss.
People...
Not sure.
...in chains.
All right...keep moving.
Over there, Boss!
I seen something.
Some dumb blackfellas...
Sure they slippery.
Chained like a dog...
Now I see them!
Plenty trouble coming, Boss.
What does that mean?
That means plenty trouble coming.
We're getting closer
to that fella, Boss.
Maybe...couple of hours.
About friggin' time.
What's your problem.
You don't honestly believe him,
do you?
Anyone can see
he's not really tracking.
He's just following his nose...
...and hoping for the best.
Is that right?...
He'll show you.
Well, get off your horse...
He's not going to climb up there
with you.
There, Boss.
There...where?
I don't see anything.
That stone was missing.
There's millions of stones.
There!...
That stone belong there, Boss.
It's been kicked away.
About 2 hours ago.
Nearly dry now.
Is that all you need?
Yes, Boss.
It's enough.
Plenty sign like this.
Sorry.
Better not go on, Boss.
Why not?
Third fella missing off the horse.
He must've been thrown.
No, Boss...
He's been speared.
What!?
I heard the spear whispering
through the air.
Back there.
Well, why didn't you tell me?
I thought YOU was on the lookout.
Rifle!...
Go and find him!
He's coming, Boss.
I'm in 'trouble coming' all right!
We'll need some bandages.
There's some in my saddlebag.
We'll have to go back...
Freedom grasps opportunities...
If to live in harmony...
But how can we be ever free...
If we let the white man be.
It's a contradiction...
It's a contradiction if you're a black man...
It's a contradiction...
It's a contradiction if you're a white man...
Freedom...
Freedom...
Serving them whilst freedom waits.
One shrieks...another pays.
It's a contradiction...
It's a contradiction if you're a black man...
It's a contradiction...
It's a contradiction if you're a white man...
Freedom...
Freedom...
Freedom
Freedom...
We'll have to stop...
Why do we have to stop?
Can't be our problem...
We've got a job to do.
Aren't you supposed to
look after your men?
Isn't that part of your job
as well?
We have to leave him behind.
He's slowing us down
too much.
Let's go.
Don't go...
I won't make it if you do.
Please!...
You can't sentence a man to certain death...
just to catch a blackfella!
You are to come with me!
That's an order!
He can do what he likes...
Do you understand?
Do you understand?!
Don't leave me...
Far away in another life...
We'd all look out for each one...
Can't believe their life matters now...
I'd like to be...
...far away...home.
What's going on?
We're waiting for him
to catch up, Boss.
Move!
My God, I'll whip you,
if you don't get moving!
I said move!
He's not going to!
And without him...
we can't catch the other one.
I'll go back and get him.
See if I can't hurry him up
a bit.
You'll stand trial
when we get back...
Disobeying orders
in a field of conflict.
Yes, Boss.
You'll probably hang.
Yes, Boss.
Poor blackfella...been born
for that noose...eh?
Too right!
What is it, this time?
That's sacred country there, Boss.
No good at night...
We go across morning.
That other blackfella...
no go there, too.
We can push on a bit...
The sooner we catch him...
the sooner we'll get back.
No.
No...he's useless...
no point trying.
Once the spirits
get into them...
No.
We'll camp back there tonight.
Ego te absolvo...
a peccatis tuis...
in nomine Patris, et Filii...
et Spiritus Sancti...
Amen.
I'm not sure, Boss.
Maybe there.
Maybe down there, Boss.
Why would he go down there?
I don't know, Boss...
Thirsty?!
Maybe drink water...
Why always up and down?
Why always the rough ground?
Can't help where
that blackfella goes.
You black bastard...!
I'm gonna kick your arse!
Sorry, Boss!
I can't swim!
Need some space, Boss...
These horses...they're covering
his tracks.
I have no doubt...
that you tried to kill me
down there.
One more false move...
and I'll return the compliment.
No hard feelings, Boss.
Are you okay?
Bring me that other bloody horse!
Drop the gun!
There are innocent women
and children...
Drop the gun!
What are you thinking?
Shut up!
Now give me your revolver.
Now...get off your horse.
Get off!
Now lie down!
No!
They'll have you for this.
I'm your superior officer...
This is mutiny!
You'll hang...
Stand up!
Stand up!
Now...
We're going to go on...
...and capture this fugitive
that we've been after.
Then you...and he...will both
stand trial for murder.
If you behave between now
and then...
I'll testify to that.
I might just recommend
leniency.
You are a DEAD man...
I'm your only way out of here!...
You'll die in here!...
You won't survive without me!
I'm in charge!
They'll give me a medal for it.
And they'll hang that blackfella!...
I'll see to that.
And you...
They will flog you...
...to the very edge of existence.
Get some bush tucker now, Boss.
We nearly had him, eh Boss?...
Nearly caught that bastard savage
today.
Black bastard's probably
trying to poison us.
I want yours.
See!...
Treacherous bastard...he won't do it...
proves my point!
Good tucker, Boss.
I must admit I've come across
1 or 2 natives during my travels...
...who were good.
I once worked with a tracker
I could trust.
I mean really trust...
As a white man can be trusted.
He was full-blood like you.
Not one of these half-castes...
who seem to take on the worst
characteristics of both races...
No...he was a man...
And he was a splendid tracker...
...like you.
He never failed me...
Over stones...through spinifex...
over high ranges...
Swamps and long grass...
And if he ever lost the tracks
for a few minutes...
...his instinct would direct him...
And on he'd go.
And he understood that we whites
are here for a purpose...
That tradition points to the fact...
that the natives were once better
than they are.
They've deteriorated in their
moral worth...and if...
If they're not taken in hand,
then...
They'll be worse than ever.
Well, this black tracker...
Despite his natural-born
ignorance...
Well, he figured I was
the man for the job, and...
He may well be right.
You could not serve Almighty God
any better...
...than by improving the poor
degraded creatures.
I've seen that the Blacks can be made
tractable and docile...
But you have to be both firm
and kind with them.
And you can teach them to work
for their own interest.
You can impress upon their minds
that they mustn't kill each other...
They must not kill the squatter's cattle...
they must...
...do unto others as they would
wish themselves to be done by...
And they must speak the truth...
now...
...if I were given the resources,
then I would establish...
...a chain of ration depots...I...
I'd collect the Blacks...and I'd feed
and clothe the old and infirm...
And some of the others at times...
I would raise their condition...
all of their conditions...
...by diplomacy and kindness.
It's a dream I have.
My tracker's still alive...
Pretty old now, but doing well...
I see him from time to time...
...when I'm in town.
I helped him get a little cottage
on the outskirts...
...and he lives their quietly
with his gin.
I taught him the white way...
and he's a happy man.
He owns ports, he says.
"Hey, Boss...how's it goin'?"
"When are you gonna teach
all those other Blacks
the proper way to live?"
And it hurts me to have to tell him
"Not yet."
Not...yet.
But then I quote him a little poem...
And he's happy again.
The world is full of beauty...
And other worlds above...
And if we do our duty...
It might be full of love.
Now I don't know if any of that
means anything to you...
But if it does, I'd like you
to think upon it...
You are charged with the murder
of innocent people...
How do you plead?
Who the hell are you?
On behalf of my people...
and all people...
I'm your judge and jury...
How do you plead?
Wake up!
I find you guilty as charged.
By your action, you have forfeited
the right to live...
among your fellow humans.
I sentence you to hang by the neck
until dead.
You can't do that!
Sic transit gloria mundi.
No...the bastard...
The glorious world.
Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis...
You have taken my country...
Fought me, killed me...
exterminated by your hand...
I have longed of my being...
Empty, derided for decades
in what was my land...
And I can never return...
Until there's contrition...
And we can learn...
Read my history.
I belong for my country...
I still remember the spirit
that lives in my land...
But I can only forgive...
When there is contrition...
Where we at last face my history.
And so I will only forgive...
When there is contrition...
And I can chain down my history.
Come on!
Here I am!
Come and get me!
Got me plurry big headache, Boss.
I guess we should take him down.
And...ah...bury him...
best we can.
Been Laptisa warning
to the white fellas, Boss.
Got to leave him.
Don't want us to stir 'em up...
them Blacks any more.
Right...
You're right...
We better go after
that blackfella, Boss.
Now.
Right.
Good...eh, Boss?
I think we should stop
for a rest.
Too many blackfellas
around here, Boss
We want to keep goin'.
I'm convinced very close now, Boss.
No!
We better go with them, Boss.
See what they want.
He wants your rifle, Boss.
You better give him now!
No way I'm giving him the gun.
You listen to me carefully...
You do what I tell you to do...
...and you won't do anything
that I don't tell you to do.
That way...you will survive.
Give the man your rifle.
That's the man, Boss.
He says he not kill
a white woman, Boss.
Him far away...when she killed.
We should take him in.
We have to take him in.
He can tell that
to the court.
The court already
find him guilty, Boss.
Blackfella...
He can't get to it anyway.
Why?
Why did you do that?
You said he was innocent.
Tribal justice, Boss.
He'd broken the law.
Aboriginal law.
Back at the waterhole...
With the woman...
He rape her.
She's wrong skin for him.
But you're a Christian.
I heard you give absolution.
God respects aboriginal law...
...as much as He respects
whitefella's law.
Maybe more.
Now if you want to stay alive...
You better be quiet...
...and follow me.
Them blackfellas...
Probably cooked him and ate him.
You know...
We all cannibals.
You wait here...
I get them horses.
Horses!?
They cut up the creek.
So...you can ride?
I suppose you can swim, too?
You know how to get back?
I think so.
My land is far away, Boss.
But always I can find it.
I wonder who did kill
that woman.
Probably whitefella, Boss...
Shifty...thieving...
...dishonest mob!
Can't trust 'em one bit.
Always I've hope...
For my struggle...
Have to keep roving on...
Do all that can be done...
Searching for one...
Who will carry the burden
within me.
With hopes, on we head...
Until we find a way...
For all of them...
To respect what we say...
But...and then...
It's not our shame...
Chain our hands...take our land...
We stay.
That's where our future goes...
Searching for those...
Who will carry the burden with us...
All ways lead home.