Australian
Screen

Clip description

Delilah (Marissa Gibson) sees Samson (Rowan McNamara) at the shop, and his message of love written on the shop wall. She gives him a packet of chips and he follows her home to her grandmother’s place. Delilah’s grandmother (Mitjili Napanangka Gibson) explains that, under their kinship system, Samson is the right skin group for Delilah to marry, and encourages a relationship with him.

Curator’s notes

Non-professional actors Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson use subtle looks and deceivingly simple gestures to suggest their strong connection. Delilah conveys mixed messages: a dismissive glance, a gift of food, and then throwing rocks so Samson keeps his distance. Thornton deliberately wanted to combine the characters’ particular circumstances of social disadvantage with the universal sense of awkwardness experienced by all teenagers, especially those in love.

After the silent courtship of Samson and Delilah, the clip features one of the longest dialogues in the film. From their brief exchange, we can see that Delilah and her grandmother have a warm and trusting relationship. Mitjili Napanangka Gibson brings a disarming laughter and sense of playfulness that has been missing from the film till now, and by association it makes us like Delilah even more. Thornton is careful to occasionally frame Samson in the background to show he has not gone away and to maintain his physical proximity with Delilah.

The scene is also interesting for suggesting the importance of tradition and kinship in Indigenous communities. The grandmother’s comment that Samson is the ‘right skin’ for Delilah, like the ‘S 4 D onley ones’ graffiti, adds to the sense of inevitability of their coming together.