Samson and Delilah movie trailer HD from Trinity Films on Vimeo.
Samson & Delilah are two Aboriginal teenagers in a devastated indigenous community outside Alice Springs, Australia. Struggling with family, being a teenager, and negotiating their identities, events transpire that lead them to leave their community and go to the city, Alice Springs. Once there, they are homeless, and unable to understand or negotiate the ways of Australian city life. Delilah undergoes horrifying treatment, and in the end, they leave Alice Springs and go to her family's land, "her country." The tale is heartbreaking, especially because - as we learn only halfway through the film - Samson has a speech deficiency and much of the communication between the two teens is nonverbal. The filmmakers deftly highlight the nuances of nonverbal communication, whether it is Delilah's grandmother's hysterical responses to Samson, or Delilah's own physical reactions to the events that happen to her.
Warwick Thornton, the director, is from Alice Springs and shared in a Q & A after the movie that he felt an obligation to share the struggles of his local community, not to publicize them and cause shame, but just to be able to discuss them openly. For Thornton, film is a way to create community. The filmmakers had a premiere on a football field and bussed in people living in communities outside Alice Springs, feeding them and encouraging them to comment on the film afterwards. Thus, film becomes a way of enacting and living social responsibility, connecting communities, and opening dialogue about the ways that communities can effectively reach out to those struggling within them. Thornton commented that these teens' situation was local, but also global: "There are Samsons and Delilahs on the corners of Brooklyn. Do we notice?" He emphasized the importance of showing kindness and being open, as a community, to the struggles of people that are often marginalized because of how "we" (and here, yes, I am normalizing) perceive them. We see poverty, dirt, prostitution, homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse - not people, like us, in trouble.
Thornton also commented on the title of his film, saying that he had long ascribed the name "Samson" to the male protagonist but had not named the girl. He chose Delilah (or, rather, his wife did...) because of its irony - in this film, Delilah makes Samson stronger, rather than the Biblical story wherein Delilah weakens Samson, stealing his strength. Thornton said that he did this purposefully, to showcase the strength of native women - how they often carry their communities on their backs, building them - and rarely get the credit.
As we walked out, E and my amazing friend Norah were silent. I wanted to be able to have words, but I didn't. The film had stunned us. E commented later that the movie made him want to get more involved in our community (later events in the Southwest further reinforced this desire). Norah noted to me recently, three weeks after the screening, that the movie was still with her.
I am reminded of a story in Paul Rogat Loeb's amazing book "The Impossible Will Take a Little While." In it, Danusha Veronica Goska writes in her essay, "Political Paralysis," about the importance of using the power we have. She writes that we may never know how the small powers we have may change the lives of those around us, if we but exercise them. This movie has inspired me - and I daresay most who see it - to examine their social responsibility - to use the powers we have, whether it is voting, recycling, riding a bike or taking public transportation to reduce the carbon footprint, to feeding the hungry...there are so many ways to make a difference in the world. We cannot expect to change the world through inaction - we must start, even if it feels small, to make some contribution to our communities. We never know where the ripple will end up...and that is the beauty of the thing, that change is electrifying, like a current, like a ripple. Every day is a choice.
To find out when and where the movie is screening near you, check out the film's website here.
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